HYDERABAD: Patolla Srinivas Reddy, owner of the lorry which was used by the four accused during the rape and murder of the veterinarian in November 2019, deposed before the judicial commission on Saturday. The commission pointed to several inconsistencies in his deposition before them with regards to his statement to the NHRC in December 2019.
One of the accused Mohd Arif had been working as a driver on his lorry since 2017 till the time of the incident and the other three accused had also worked on his vehicle as cleaners for a short period in the past, but he had sacked them after they stole diesel and some articles from the vehicle. He said that he earlier owned four lorries, but had sold them after the veterinarian’s rape and murder, followed by the encounter of the accused. The lorry which was used in the offence, was seized by the police and is still in their custody.
Responding to several questions based on his statement to the NHRC, he said that he does not remember what he had stated before the NHRC. He also said that Mohd Arif did not have a Heavy Vehicle licence, but was employed on his lorry, as people with heavy vehicle licences were not available then.
'Chennakesavulu had thick, curly hair'
Srinivas Reddy also stated that another accused in the case, Chintakunta Chennakesavulu, had thick and curly hair. When police showed him CCTV footage, he identified him by his hair. Though he had not seen another accused Jollu Naveen before, he had sent the footage which police gave him, to one of his drivers Jaffar, who identified the person as Naveen, Srinivas said.
He further added that he took the police to Arif’s residence at Jaklair village in Narayanpet district and Arif had then taken the police to Gudigandla village, where the other three accused were residing.