- 4 accused of murder after the rape of Telangana Veterinary Doctor were killed in an encounter on 6 December
- Claims in petitions – Cyberabad police did not follow the guidelines of the Supreme Court during the encounter
- Telangana High Court has given instructions to keep the bodies of rape and murder preserved till December 13
Petitions were filed against the encounter of 4 accused in rape and murder of Veterinary Doctor in Telangana in the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The case was headed by Chief Justice AS Bobde. The matter is currently in the Telangana High Court. The apex court has proposed to appoint a former judge to investigate the encounter. The next hearing will be on Thursday.
The petitioner has demanded independent investigation of the encounter, an FIR and action against the policemen involved in it. Petitioners Advocates GS Mani and Pradeep Kumar Yadav have said that the police did not follow the 2014 Supreme Court Guidelines in this case.
SIT set up for investigation, bodies will be safe till December 13
On the other hand, the Telangana High Court, while hearing the petition on Monday, directed to keep the bodies of all the accused safe till December 13. A bench headed by Chief Justice RS Chaihan of the High Court had asked whether the police followed the guidelines issued for the encounter in the case. Also, the CD or pendrive of the video related to the postmortem was ordered to be handed over to the Chief District Judge of Mahbubnagar. The High Court will hear the case on Thursday.
Officers from different cities involved in SIT
The Telangana government has formed an 8-member SIT to investigate the encounter. It is headed by Mahesh M Bhagwat, Police Commissioner, Rachkenda. The rest of the officers, including a woman involved in the SIT, have been drawn from different parts of the state.
2014 Supreme Court Guidelines on Encounter
After the encounter, it is necessary to register its FIR. The families of those killed or injured in the encounter will have to be informed immediately. All deaths will have magistrate inquiries. The encounter will be investigated by the team of CID or any other police station. The investigation will be done under the supervision of a high-ranking officer from the head of the team involved in the encounter. It is necessary to inform the National Human Rights Commission or State Human Rights Commission about the death in the encounter.
Demanded action on Jaya Bachchan and Swati Maliwal
Advocate ML Sharma in the Supreme Court has demanded the formation of an SIT under the supervision of the court to investigate the encounter. He filed a case against Jaya Bachchan and Delhi Women’s Commission chairperson Swati Maliwal for supporting the police action.
Police claim – accused killed during re-creation
The Veterinary Doctor was murdered on the night of 27 November in Shamshabad, Telangana, after being raped. After this, the body was burnt by the four accused. All the accused were in 14-day judicial custody. On 6 December, the Cyberabad police took them to the scene for investigation. After the encounter, Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar had told that during the crime scene re-creation, the accused tried to escape by snatching weapons. All the four accused were killed in police firing in self-defense. This encounter took place at the same place, where the accused had murdered the doctor after the rape.
