Telangana government sets up SIT to investigate Hyderabad encounter case

Hyderabad: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been set up by the Telangana government to investigate the encounter of the four accused in the rape and murder of the Hyderabad veterinary doctor. 

The SIT will be headed by Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat. The announcement of the same was made late night on Sunday (December 8).

The four accused who were identified as Mohammed, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu were killed in an encounter on Friday (December 6) when they tried to escape from the same spot where they had set fire to the body of the veterinarian. They were taken for re-construction of events as part of the investigation at the crime scene in Shadnagar which is around 60 km from Hyderabad. 

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which has taken the responsibility of conducting spot inquiry into the encounter deaths, arrived in Hyderabad on Saturday (December 7) to probe the matter. The team will inspect the scene of the encounter for an on-the-spot investigation and will also gather details of the police officers involved in it. 

The NHRC team is also likely to visit the government-run hospital in Mahbubnagar where the bodies of the four accused have been kept after an autopsy was conducted late on Friday.

The accused had gang-raped and killed the veterinarian who was in her mid-20s near the outer Ring Road at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad and dumped the body and set it afire near Shadnagar. The charred body of the victim was found on November 28. Just after a day, the police arrested two truck drivers and two cleaners. The next day they were sent to judicial custody while police took custody of the accused on December 3 for interrogation.

(With ANI inputs)