“DISHA” Rapists killed in encounter

People hail police for delivering instant justice

Hyderabad, Dec.6 (Maxim News): In a dramatic twist to the inhuman and heinous drama of gang-rape, murder and setting ablaze of a 26-year-old veterinary doctor “Disha” on the outskirts of the city recently, all the four accused were killed in an encounter with the police in Shadnagar early Friday morning.

The accused in the case — Mohd Arif, Bollu Shiva, Chenna Keshavulu and Naveen Kumar — were taken by the investigating officers for scene reconstruction at Tondupally Toll Gate in the early hours. From there they had taken the accused to the Chattanpally under-bridge where the accused set Disha ablaze. While the cops were inspecting the scene of offence, the accused allegedly tried to snatch guns from the police and escape. But they were killed when the police fired at them in self-defence some 100 meters away from the under-bridge where “Disha” was dumped and burnt.

A large number of people, who gathered close to the ‘encounter‘ scene near Shadnagar town raised slogans hailing Telangana police and Cyberabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar. Some of them said the police delivered “instant justice” by eliminating the perpetrators of the gruesome crime. They were seen showering flower petals on the police officials and distributing sweets.

Ironically, the same police, who a week ago came in for severe criticism all over the nation, including in Parliament, for their alleged inaction in responding to the victim’s family’s plea in registering a case, were today hailed and appreciated for their action as super heroes for delivering instant justice to the victim and her family.

It may be recalled here that the young veterinary doctor, who parked her scooty at a toll plaza and returned to pick it up later, was forcibly took away by the gang of four — two lorry drivers and cleaners — on the night of November 27. With criminal intention, the drunken accused deflated her scooty and then on the pretext of helping her, dragged her to a lonely place near the toll plaza, forcibly forced liquor into her mouth and sexually assaulted her one after the other. Later, the accused carried her in the lorry and repeated the heinous act even though she had died due to suffocation. The accused then dumped her body under the road bridge at Chatanpally and set her ablaze. Her charred body was recovered in the early hours of November 28.

When the news of the gory act came to light, there was an unprecedented outrage in the entire State and other parts of the country. The incident also echoed Parliament and the Telangana police were accused of criminal negligence and ridiculed for not responding immediately. With the public uproar, the police woke up and arrested the accused on November 28 and interrogated the next day. The accused were sent to judicial custody on November 30.

The mind-numbing incident attracted nation-wide attention and the demand for death penalty for the rapists grew louder and louder with people taking out protest rallies and candle-light marches, dharnas and so on. Amidst the unprecedented outrage, the investigating officers managed to secure police custody of the accused from the court on December 4. The accused were brought to the police station and interrogated further on December 5.

To reconstruct the scene of offence, the Shamshabad police took the accused to the crime spot at Chatanpally at around 1 am on Friday. As the police were busy inspecting the spot, the accused enacted their horrific drama of dumping and setting ablaze the victim under the road bridge, main accused Mohd Arif allegedly signaled his co-accused to escape even as he and another accused Chennakesvalu tried to snatch a rife and attacked the police with stones.

Even as the stunned and shocked police could recover, the accused started fleeing into the fields while continuing to hurl stones. The police chased them and opened fire in self-defence killing all the four accused. The encounter of the rapists spread like wild fire and hundreds of people stormed the area and raised slogans appreciating the police for their action. Flowers were showered on the police personnel and sweets were offered to them. In many parts of the two Telugu States, people, especially girl students and women burst crackers and danced to drum beats.

After a panchanama at the encounter spot, the bodies of the four rapists were sent to Mahbubnagar Hospital for post-mortem. (Maxim News)