Hyderabad encounter fake, 10 cops must face trial : SC panel

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 20

Terming the November 2019 killing of four rape-cum-murder accused in a Hyderabad encounter as fake, a Supreme Court-appointed committee has recommended that 10 police officers involved should be tried for murder.

About 2019 case

• On Nov 27, 2019, a vet raped and murdered on Hyderabad outskirts
• The accused carry the body to Shadnagar town and set it on fire

Not backed by proof

Justice VS Sirpurkar-led panel said the claim that the accused snatched pistols & tried to flee was not backed by evidence

In its final report submitted to the top court, Justice (retd) VS Sirpurkar-led committee said the police version that accused snatched pistols from them and tried to escape was unbelievable and not backed by evidence.

The committee recommended “all 10 police officers—V Surender, K Narasimha Reddy, Shaik Lal Madhar, Mohammed Sirajuddin, Kocherla Ravi, K Venkateshwarulu, S Arvind Goud, D Janakiram, R Balu Rathod and D Srikanth—are to be tried under Sections 302 and 201 read with Section 34, IPC, as the different acts committed by each of them were done in furtherance of common intention.”

On November 27, 2019, a woman veterinarian was raped and killed at midnight at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The accused carried the body to Chatanpally near Shadnagar town and set it afire. The police arrested lorry drivers Mohammed Pasha, alias Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu and lorry cleaners Jollu Shiva and Jollu Naveen two days after the incident. The committee concluded that three of the accused killed in the fake encounter were minors. “The police were well aware about the school records of Jollu Shiva and Chennakeshavulu and yet have not recorded the age of the deceased. Therefore, we are of the opinion that at the relevant time, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chennakeshavulu were minors,” the panel wrote in its report.

The police had claimed the accused attacked policemen when being taken to Chatanpally to recover the victim’s mobile phone and reconstruct the crime scene. Two of the accused allegedly snatched weapons from policemen and opened fire. All four were killed after the police returned the fire, they had said.

The top court had on December 12, 2019 appointed a three-member panel headed by former top court judge VS Sirpurkar to probe the killing of four men in an alleged fake encounter. The other two members of the panel are former Bombay HC judge Rekha Prakash Baldota and former CBI chief DR Kartikeyan. The top court had given several six-month extensions to the Justice Sirpurkar committee to conclude the inquiry.

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