The Telangana high court on Monday directed that the Cyberabad police to preserve the bodies of four men killed in the last week’s alleged encounter at Chatanpalli near Shadnagar till December 13.
The four , Mohammed Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakunta Chenna Keshavulu, were accused in the rape and murder of a 26-year old veterinarian at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad on the intervening night of November 27 and 28.
The accused, who were subsequently arrested and given to police custody by the Shadnagar court, were killed on December 6 in an exchange of fire with the police at Chatanpalli, the same place where they allegedly burnt the body of the veterinarian. The killing was welcomed by many who saw it as express justice being delivered, although legal experts and activists sought to distinguish between justice and vigilantism.
The high court, which heard a public interest litigation (PIL) petition by a group of human rights activists on Monday, ordered that the police shift the bodies of the accused to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad from the mortuary of Mahabubnagar government hospital where they were preserved after autopsy on Friday night. The Mahabubnagar police also requested the high court to shift the bodies to Hyderabad due to lack of facilities in the district hospital to preserve bodies for longer and also on account of law and order problems.
The high court asked state advocate general B S Prasad, if the Cyberabad police followed Supreme Court guidelines while resorting to firing in the encounter and asked him to produce the documentary evidence for the same, apart from video recording of the post mortem procedure.
{{/usCountry}}The high court asked state advocate general B S Prasad, if the Cyberabad police followed Supreme Court guidelines while resorting to firing in the encounter and asked him to produce the documentary evidence for the same, apart from video recording of the post mortem procedure.
{{/usCountry}}The advocate general sought time till Thursday to furnish the details and documents. The court adjourned the case till December 12. The petitioners filed the petition in the high court soon after the encounter, seeking judicial intervention in alleged extra judicial killings of the four accused by the Cyberabad police.
Meanwhile, a Special Investigation Team constituted by the Telangana government on Sunday night to investigate the Shadnagar encounter, commenced its work on Monday.
Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Mahesh Bhagavath who is heading the SIT held a meeting with the other seven members of the team, including Wanaparthy SP K Apoorva Rao, Mancherial DCP Uday Kumar Reddy, Rachakonda Addl DCP Surender Reddy and Sangaredy DSP Sridhar Reddy, Rachakonda IT cell officer Sridhar Reddy, Koratala CI Raja Sheker Raju and Venu Gopal Reddy, Inspector DCRB, Sangareddy.
The SIT will probe the case under various sections of IPC, along with other all related cases registered in Telangana as per the Supreme Court guidelines.
Meanwhile, a seven-member NHRC team, which arrived in Telangana on Saturday, continued its probe for the third consecutive day on Monday. The team recorded the statements of the police officials involved in the encounter and revenue officials who conducted the inquest after the encounter, an official in the Cyberabad police commissionerate familiar with the development said.
The team, which visited Mahabubnagar government hospital and the encounter site at Shadnagar on Saturday, recorded the statements of the families of the accused and also the family of the veterinarian on Sunday.