The families of the four men killed in an encounter by Telangana police have approached the Supreme Court, demanding an independent probe against the personnel involved in the encounter. The four men, according to the police, had raped and murdered a 26-year-old veterinarian last month. The accused were arrested soon after the woman’s burnt body was found near Hyderabad.
In their plea, the families have also sought an FIR against Commissioner Sajjanar who headed the investigation.
The four accused were arrested on November 29 for allegedly raping and killing the woman by smothering her and later burning the body.
The police had taken the four accused to the spot to recreate the sequence of events when they “snatched police weapons and tried to escape”. The Hyderabad police said they fired in self-defence.
The petitioners have pleaded that the extra-judicial killings by Telangana police are in violation of the Supreme Court’s 16 requirements that must be met in matters of investigating police encounters.
On December 12, the Supreme Court ordered a three-member independent judicial probe headed by retired judge VS Sirpurkar, into the killings.
The apex court also ordered a stay on all the proceedings by the Telangana High Court and other authorities until further orders. The inquiry has to be completed in six months and thereafter, the report will be submitted before the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde.