Families of the four accused of Hyderabad veterinarian’s rape and murder case who were gunned down by the Cyberabad police in an alleged encounter on December 6, have approached the Supreme Court, seeking registration of murder case against the police officers involved.
Alleging that the youth were killed in a stage-managed gunfight, the families sought investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or some other agency. They also sought direction to Telangana government to pay them Rs 50 lakh compensation each.
The families filed a common writ petition under the provisions of Article 32 of the Constitution that enables individuals to seek redressal for the violation of their fundamental rights.
The petition asked the court to call for all the police records before and after the “encounter”.
“State to provide adequate compensation and damages of Rs 50,000,00 (Lakhs) each to the deceased family for fake encounter killing of 4 deceased accused,” said the petition. The petitioners also sought a CBI probe into the role of the Cyberabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar.
The petitioners made the Union Home Secretary, the Telangana Chief Secretary, Assistant Commissioner of Police V. Surender and Police Inspector A. Sreedhar Kumar respondents.
They also urged the Supreme Court to quash the cases registered against the deceased – Mohammed Arif, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakuntla Chennakeshavulu.
The accused in the gang-rape and murder of a veterinary doctor were killed by police at Chatanpally near Shadnagar town, about 50 km from Hyderabad. Police claimed that the accused attacked the police party escorting them, snatched their weapons and opened fire and all four were killed in retaliatory fire.
The police had taken them to reconstruct crime scene at Chatanpally, where they had allegedly burnt the body of the victim on the night of November 27 after committing the gang-rape at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The Telangana government claimed in the apex court that the accused attempted to escape the police custody and also grabbed their guns, and then the police had to act in self defence. It insisted that the accused were killed in the cross-firing.
The gruesome rape and murder had triggered national outrage with demands for immediate death penalty to the perpetrators.
While the killing of the accused in the alleged encounter was hailed by a section of people, the families of the deceased and human rights groups alleged that the police took law into its hands. Terming this as extra-judicial killings, some groups had moved the Supreme Court.
On December 12, the Supreme Court, through an order, set up an inquiry commission led by former apex court judge Justice (retd) V.S. Sirpurkar, retired Bombay High Court judge Rekha Baldota and retired CBI Director D.R. Karthikeyan, to probe the circumstances of the “encounter” of the four accused in the case. The apex court ruled that commission would have to complete its investigation within six months. It also appointed advocate K. Parameshwar counsel for the Commission.
The panel is yet to begin its work while the dead bodies of all four youth lying government-run Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad.
The top court also stayed the proceedings initiated by the Telangana High Court and the National Human Rights Commission into the encounter.
