10 cops guilty, their story is concocted, reports panel
The Supreme Court-appointed Justice VS Sirpurkar panel has found that the Hyderabad Police killed four accused, caught for the rape and murder of a woman veterinary doctor in a fake encounter in 2019.
The panel rejected the police claims and recommended to prosecute 10 police officials present during the fake encounter under murder charges.
Rejecting the police claims that the accused snatched pistols and tried to harm the policemen and tried to escape, the panel said this police version is totally wrong and unbelievable. The panel said arrested accused were “deliberately fired upon by the police to kill them when they were taken to the sport of the crime”.
The SC also turned down Telangana Government’s plea to get a copy of the panel report and decided to send the report to the High Court to initiate charges against the policemen.
A bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli did not agree to the submissions of senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the State, that the enquiry commission’s report be kept in a sealed cover.
“This relates to the encounter case. There is nothing to keep here. The commission has found someone guilty. We want to send the matter to the High Court,” the bench said. “We have to send the case back to the High Court, we cannot monitor this case. A detailed report is submitted. Question is: What is the proper action to be taken? They have made some recommendations,” the bench said, adding, “We direct the commission secretariat to provide a copy of the report to both parties...”.
The four suspects — Mohammed Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, Jolu Shiva, and Jollu Naveen — were arrested in connection with the gangrape and murder of a veterinary woman doctor on November 29, 2019. Later, the four accused were shot dead on December 6, 2019, on NH-44 near Hyderabad — the same highway — where the charred body of the 27-year-old veterinarian was found.
The Sirpurkar panel was set up on December 12, 2019, to enquire into the circumstances leading to the encounter and was to submit the report in six months. The other members of the commission include former Bombay High Court judge Rekha Sondur Baldota and ex-CBI director D R Karthikeyan. The term of the enquiry panel has now been extended thrice. It was extended in July 2020 for the first time for six months.
The Telangana Police had said the accused were killed in an exchange of fire.
The incident took place around 6.30 am when the accused were taken to the site of the offence for the reconstruction of the scene of the crime as part of the investigation.
The police had claimed that on November 27, 2019, the woman veterinarian was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and later found murdered.