HYDERABAD: Deposing before the three-member judicial commission, N Prakash Reddy, DCP Shamshabad, said that he had asked the then Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar to address the media after the arrest of the four accused. Supporting the statements made by Sajjanar last week, he added that he had briefed the former top cop about the facts and the circumstances of the arrest, which were to be disclosed to the media.
While answering questions posed by the commission on the confessional statements made by the accused, he clarified that he had learnt of the same from ACP Shadnagar. He added that the ACP Shadnagar told him about the manner in which the accused committed the crime and that he also informed him that the disclosure statement of the accused Mohd Arif was completed in the presence of panchayatdars.
When asked about the arrest of the accused at 5 pm and their alleged confession, which was completed by 5.15 pm on November 29, 2019, the DCP said, “It’s not confession, but a disclosure of their statement as all of them had disclosed their crime. It’s not confession because a confession to a police officer or while in police custody is not to be proven, as per the Indian Evidence Act.”
He later admitted that the ‘disclosure statements’ of the accused referred by him are titled as the Accused Crime Confession Panchnama (Nerastula Nera oppukolu panchnama) and that he had briefed the then commissioner VC Sajjanar about the details of the confessional statement of the accused.
Referring to the details shared during the press meet, Reddy said that the press meet was not an “impromptu meet” and that he, being a software engineer by training, had used Google Earth application to plot the scene of the crime, location of the CCTVs on NH 44, to not lose track of the important evidence and monitor the investigation, and had presented the same before the media to clear rumours.
DCP admits to having briefed Sajjanar
Supporting the statements made by former police commissioner VC Sajjanar last week, N Prakash Reddy, DCP Shamshabad, said that he had asked him to address the media and that he had briefed him about the facts and the circumstances of the arrest, which were to be disclosed to the media