SC terms Hyderabad 2019 encounter fake, says 10 cops should be tried for murder

Hyderabad: Four people accused of a gang-rape and murder who were killed in a police encounter in Hyderabad “were deliberately fired upon with an intent to cause their death”, a Supreme Court-appointed panel said today.

Three of the four were minors, the report said.

The commission also pointed out lapses in the investigation and recommended that 10 policemen be tried for murder.

“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 deceased suspect,” the report said.
“We are of the opinion that at the relevant time, Jolu Shiva, Jolu Naveen, and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu were minors.”

The four accused - Mohammed Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, Jolu Shiva and Jollu Naveen - were arrested in connection with the gang-rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in November 2019.

The SC on Friday ordered sharing of the sealed cover report of a three-member inquiry commission on the encounter killings and transferred the matter to the Telangana High Court for further action.

A bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli did not agree to the submissions of senior advocate Shyam Divan that the report be kept under a sealed cover.

“This relates to the encounter case. There is nothing to keep here. The commission has found someone guilty. We want to send the matter to the high court,” the bench said.

On August 3 the SC had granted extension of six months to the commission, headed by former SC judge VS Sirpurkar, to file the final report on the encounter killings.

The panel was set up on December 12, 2019, to inquire into the circumstances leading to the encounters and was to submit the report in six months.

The other members of the commission include former Bombay High Court judge Rekha Sondur Baldota and ex-CBI director DR Karthikeyan