Hyderabad gang rape and murder: SC panel says encounter 'concocted', seeks action against cops

HYDERABAD: The Justice VS Sirpurkar Commission, constituted by the Supreme Court, to probe the death of the four accused in the Disha gang rape and murder case has said that the 'encounter' was 'concocted' and 'unbelievable'. The Commission also recommended an inquiry against the ten police officers who were part of the team that was involved in the 'encounter'.

The report of the commission, which is made available to the public today, stated: ".. it cannot be said that the police party fired in self defence or in a bid to re-arrest the suspects. The record shows the entire version of the police party beginning from the safe house to the incident at Chatanpally is 'concocted.' It was impossible for the suspects to have snatched the weapons of the police and they could not have operated the firearms. Therefore, the entire version is unbelievable".

It may be recalled that a veterinary doctor (known as Disha) was kidnapped on November 28, 2019 in Hyderabad. Later, she was gang-raped and murdered. The accused dumped her body on the outskirts of Hyderabad and burnt it. The four accused died in an alleged 'encounter' on December 6, 2019. Later, the Supreme Court constituted Sirpurkar Commission on December 12, 2019. The Commission submitted its report to the Supreme Court on January 28, 2022. The other members of the Commission are Justice Rekha P Sondur Baldota and DR Kaarthikeyan.

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The Commission report said: "In our considered opinion, the accused were deliberately fired upon with an intent to cause their death and with the knowledge that the firing would invariably result in the death of the suspects. It is also of the opinion of the Commission that: A) Shaik Lal Madhar, Mohammed Sirajuddin and Kocherla Ravi are liable to be tried for the offence under Section 302 IPC. These officers cannot take shelter under Section 76 IPC and Exception 3 to Section 300 IPC because their contention that they fired in good faith at the deceased suspects has been disbelieved. Good faith, which is an essential pre-requisite of Section 76 IPC and Exception 3 to Section 300 IPC, is found to be clearly absent".

"All the 10 police officers i.e., V. Surender, K. Narasimha Reddy, Shaik Lal Madhar, Mohammed Sirajuddin, Kocherla Ravi, K. Venkateshwarulu, S. Arvind Goud, D. Janakiram, R. Balu Rathod and D. Srikanth, are to be tried for the offences under Section 302 r/w 34 IPC, 201 r/w 302 IPC and 34 IPC, as the above discussion would show that the different acts committed by each of them were done in furtherance of common intention to kill the deceased suspects", the Commission said.