HYDERABAD: As dawn broke on Friday, four persons lay lifeless on a large agriculture tract, about 300 metres away from the busy National Highway-44 near the small and obscure village of Chatanpally.
They were the accused in the rape and murder of Disha, which occurred on November 27. The deceased — Mohammed Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu — were gunned down by the police, allegedly during an exchange of gunfire, said Cyberabad police.
All four of the accused lay barefoot sans handcuffs. While the prime accused in the case Areef and the fourth accused Chennakeshavulu were found dead face up, holding guns in their right hands, the other two were seen lying unarmed in the shrubs.
In the photographs released by the police, Areef suffered a bullet injury to his chest. Chennakeshavulu did not suffer any bullet injury to his front, raising suspicions that he was shot from behind.
Shiva, meanwhile, sustained bullet injuries to his ribs. From the images, one could not make out where Naveen was shot.
The agricultural tract, which is 2 km from Chatanpally and 3 km from Shadnagar Town, was completely deserted. There were no eye-witnesses to corroborate the police version.
Though the highway is very close to the site of the ‘encounter’, it is nearly impossible for a passerby on the road to have a clear view of the events that unfolded on the field.
According to police, the alleged encounter occurred between 5.45 am and 6.15 am — in the dark, clouded by fog.
They cordoned off the encounter site, denying access to both the media and the public until late afternoon.
However, the area of the encounter was soon bustling with enthused crowd, who lauded the police with ‘police zindabad’ slogans.
A 10-member team had taken the accused from police custody to the spot early in the morning for crime scene reconstruction and to recover the victim’s mobile phone and other belongings that were ‘buried’ by the accused.
When the police asked the accused where they had hidden her mobile phone, they began showing them multiple locations.
The police termed the accused ‘notorious’, and claimed that they knew how to operate firearms.
The accused allegedly snatched guns from police and began firing bullets and pelting stones at them. “They snatched two pistols from the duty personnel and opened fire at them. Fortunately, the police dodged them,” said Cyberabad Commissioner VC Sajjanar.
He further said that one of the accused picked up a blunt weapon and attacked the escort officers. Nandigama Sub-Inspector Venkateshwarulu and constable Ramesh Goud were injured in the incident, Sajjanar added.
ALSO READ | Encounters a dangerous trend: Advocates
He said that as the accused were unwilling to surrender, they were left with no option but to open fire in self-defence.
Local family hears gunfire
While there were no eye-witnesses to the alleged encounter of the four accused, a family living in Sapodilla farm near Chatanpally village, some 350 m from the site told Express that they had heard loud, intermittent gunfire for about half an hour at around 5 am on Friday.
Though the police did not reveal how many rounds of bullets they had fired, according to the family, they heard 14 gun shots.
How the events unfolded
November 27: The four accused persons allegedly take the victim to an isolated spot near Thondupalli toll plaza on the Outer Ring Road in Shamshabad on the pretext of getting her scooter repaired. They gang-rape and murder her. Then, they set her body on fire at Chatanpally
November 29: The police detain the four accused after cross-checking details from the crime scene. Upon verifying the evidence, the police arrest the accused
November 30: The police produce the accused before the court for judicial custody
December 4: The police get 10-day custody of the accused for interrogation
December 5: The police question the accused, get 90 per cent of details of case
December 6: The police take them to the place of offence at Chatanpally, kill them in an encounter
A detailed look at the encounter episode:
Friday, 3 am: The police take the accused to Chatanpally so as to unearth the victim’s mobile phone
3.45 am: The police and the accused reach the place of offence, where the latter had allegedly burnt the victim
3.55 am: The police ask the accused to show them where they had disposed of the belongings of the victim
4.05 am: The accused begin walking towards the field along with police to show them where they had thrown the mobile phone, wrist watch and power bank of the victim
4.30 am: The accused begin/pretend to search for the belongings of victim till 5.30 am
5.30 am: The accused snatch two weapons from the police and begin running
5.40 am: The police ask the accused to put their hands up in the air and surrender the weapons
5.55 am: Two of the accused persons lobbed stones at the police, while the other two take position and point the snatched weapons at them
6.10 am: The police try to recover the weapons
6.15 am: The police open fire at accused in an encounter, wherein all the four accused were killed
6.30 am: The investigation officials alert the senior officers regarding the encounter and the killing of the accused