A week after the brutal gang rape and murder of a young veterinarian in Hyderabad, police shot dead all the four accused in an alleged 'encounter' near Shadnagar town.
The accused were killed in the early hours of Friday when they allegedly snatched weapons from the police and tried to escape from the Chatanpally near Shadnagar, about 50 km from Hyderabad.
Police sources said they were gunned down at the same spot where the accused had dumped the victim's body and set it afire on the night of November 27 after the gang rape near Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Hyderabad: Senior Police officials arrive at the site of the encounter. All four accused in the rape and murder of woman veterinarian in Telangana were killed in an encounter with the police when the accused tried to escape while being taken to the crime spot. https://t.co/TB4R8EuPyr pic.twitter.com/7fuG87MP0m
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2019
The accused were taken to the spot by the Cyberabad police for reconstruction of the crime scene as part of the investigations.
The four accused killed in the encounter were identified as: lorry drivers Mohammed Arif (26) and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu (20), and lorry cleaners Jollu Shiva (20) and Jollu Naveen (20). All hailed from the Narayanpet district of Telangana.
Hyderabad: Heavy police presence at the spot where accused in the rape and murder of the woman veterinarian were killed in an encounter earlier today. #Telangana pic.twitter.com/tpIzyBgxdZ
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2019
Cyberabad Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar and other senior officials rushed to the 'encounter' scene.
As the news of the 'encounter' spread, people gathered near the scene on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway.
The four were arrested by the police on November 29 and the next day a court in Shadnagar had sent them to judicial custody for 14 days. They were subsequently shifted to Cherlapally Jail in Hyderabad.
#WATCH Hyderabad: Reaction of girl students when news of encounter of the accused in murder and rape of woman veterinarian broke out pic.twitter.com/z238VVDsiC
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2019
A court on Wednesday had remanded the accused to police custody for seven days. The police believed to have taken them into custody on Thursday. This was done secretly as police was anticipating law and order problem due to possible protest by people.
Massive protest was held outside Shadnagar police station on November 30 when the accused were about to be taken to court. Hundreds of people demanded that the accused be handed over to them. The magistrate had to be brought to the police station to send the accused into the custody.
The gruesome rape and murder had triggered nation-wide rage with demands for immediate death penalty to the perpetrators. As per the initial probe, the four had "hatched a plan" to ambush the victim after she returned from work to pick up her scooter from Tondupally toll plaza.
Rekha Sharma, National Commission for Women on #Telangana encounter: We always demanded death penalty for them, and here police is the best judge, I don't know in what circumstances this happened. https://t.co/cCfPbqy3rB pic.twitter.com/mG66un7DBv
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2019
After the accused deflated the tyre, two others offered to help her. When she agreed, they dragged her into the bushes barely 50 metres from Tondupally toll plaza, behind a line of trucks that obscured visibility from the road, police said. The accused, after killing her, took her body to an under-construction bridge in Chattapally, a few kilometres away, where they set it on fire, the police said.
The police were criticised for making the family members of the victim run around over jurisdiction. The family had also alleged that had the cops took note of their complaint and taken action immediately, she might have been saved. The sub-inspector, as well as two head constables of Shamshabad police station, were suspended for dereliction of duty.
WATCH | “Very happy with the punishment, Hyderabad police did a good job. We thank them”: Nirbhaya’s parents on all 4 accused in rape and murder of #Telangana vet shot down by police. pic.twitter.com/nIFSWaRPur
— NDTV (@ndtv) December 6, 2019
There have been protests all over the country. Many demanded that the accused be hanged in public.
Speaking in the Parliament, some MPs even called for lynching the perpetrators of the horrific crime.
Telangana government on December 4 had set up a fast-track court in Mahabubnagar for speedy trial.
DRAMATIC TWIST to the Hyderabad gang rape case. All the 4 accused have been killed in a police encounter. Reportedly, they were taken to the crime scene to reconstruct the crime & they tried to flee.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 6, 2019
TIMES NOW’s Paul Oomen with more details. Listen in. pic.twitter.com/jXyd6Rj3KX
JUSTICE DONE, SAYS HYDERABAD VICTIM'S FAMILY
The family of a young veterinarian in Hyderabad who was brutally gang raped and murdered, on Friday said that justice has been done after all the four accused in the case were killed in a police 'encounter'.
There was a sense of closure for the victim's family as they heard the news Friday morning that the accused were shot dead by the Telangana Police at the same spot where her body was set afire after the gang rape on November 27.
"Feel very happy, think this will be an example": Family of Telangana veterinarian who was raped and murder, on all 4 accused shot down by police.
— NDTV (@ndtv) December 6, 2019
Read more here: https://t.co/WGZiYC5JA6#Telangana #TelanganaCase pic.twitter.com/2CZw1BdFJj
"This will make her rest in peace," the victim's father told reporters at his residence in Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad. He thanked the Telangana government, police and all others who stood by them.
"I am not going to get back my daughter but this will definitely send a strong message. This will instill fear and criminals will not dare to do what my daughter had to go through," said he added.
The 25-year-old veterinarian was gang raped by four truck drivers and cleaners near the Outer Ring Road at Shamshabad on the night of November 27. They later dumped the body near Shadnagar town, about 28 km away, and set it afire.
The accused were shot dead early Friday morning when they allegedly tried to escape from the crime scene where the police had brought them to re-enact the incident.
My daughter's soul at peace now: Hyderabad veterinarian's father on encounter
— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) December 6, 2019
Read @ANI story | https://t.co/pTLxgCcSV3 pic.twitter.com/SizszIrRw8
Asha Devi, Nirbhaya's mother: I have been running from pillar to post for the last 7 years. I appeal to the justice system of this country and the government, that Nirbhaya's culprits must be hanged to death, at the earliest. https://t.co/VoT5iv2caf pic.twitter.com/5ICgJUYaNz
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2019
