HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Monday asked the registry to provide a soft copy of the commission’s report on the death of the accused in Disha’s rape and murder in an “encounter” with the police, to amicus curiae Desai Prakash Reddy and list the case in two weeks.
It should be noted that the findings of the Supreme Court-appointed investigation committee, which inquired into the extrajudicial death of the four suspects in the December 2019 gang rape and murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad, was made public on May 20.
The accused who died in the “encounter” were: Mohammad Arif, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen, and Chintakunta Chennakeshalu. The encounter took place on December 6, 2019, a week after they were detained on November 29.
Police had said that they opened fire after the suspects threw sticks and stones at them while two of the accused grabbed their firearms and shot at the officers. The Supreme Court-appointed panel, after inquiring into the deaths, concluded that a major portion of the police version was improbable.
The police said that the deaths occurred when the four accused persons were escorted to the Chatanpally underpass, where Disha’s body was set on fire for evidence collecting. They were transported there from a guest home that was being used as a safe house. Police stated they admitted to hiding a few items that belonged to Disha in the bushes a little distance from where her body was set on fire and bringing them there to indicate the location.
Lapses in probe
The Justice Sirpurkar Commission report pointed out various contradictions in the police accounts, ranging from the confession recorded at the safe house to the supposed escape attempt by the accused at Chatanpally.