2019 Hyderabad Disha case accused encounter 'fake,' says SC panel
In a startling revelation, a Supreme Court-appointed commission on Friday declared the police encounter of the accused in the 2019 Disha gang-rape and murder in Hyderabad as "fake." The three-member panel, led by ex-judge Justice VS Sirpurkar, also said three of the four rape and murder accused, killed in the encounter, were minors. The panel also recommended the trial of accused policemen for murder.
- In 2019, the gang-rape of Disha (name changed), a 26-year-old veterinarian, shocked the entire country.
- Later, all four accused were shot dead in a suspicious encounter the same year.
- As per the police report, the accused were taken to the crime scene for recreating the events, when they reportedly attacked the police officers and were killed in the cops' retaliatory firing.
The commission said that "the accused were deliberately fired upon" with the purpose to kill them. "We are of the opinion that at the relevant time, Jolu Shiva, Jolu Naveen, and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu were minors," it stated. The panel also pointed out many obvious flaws in the inquiry and recommended that the 10 police officers involved be charged with murder.
The SC on Friday ordered the release of the three-member probe commission's sealed cover report on the encounter deaths of four suspects in the case. It sent the issue to the Telangana High Court for further proceedings. A bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana rejected the request of senior advocate Shyam Divan—representing the Telangana government—that the report be kept under a sealed cover.
The panel was formed on December 12, 2019, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the encounter and provide a report within six months. Former Bombay High Court judge Rekha Sondur Baldota and ex-CBI director Dr. Karthikeyan are also members of the Commission. The SC granted the commission extension on three occasions to file its final report on the matter.
On November 28, Disha was allegedly abducted by four accused—Mohammed Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen, and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu—near the Tondupally toll plaza. She was gang-raped, killed, and burned. The accused were later arrested and on December 6, they were killed in a police encounter during an alleged bid to escape. Subsequently, a three-member Supreme Court panel was formed to probe the encounter.
