Accused pelted stones at us, snatched our weapons: Sajjanar on encounter

Hyberabad Police chief VC Sajjannar refused to comment on the human rights panel casting aspersions on the encounter in which the four men who raped and killed a veterinarian were shot dead.

“All I can say is that law has done its duty,” Sajjannar said.

“We will answer to whoever takes cognizance, the state government, NHRC, to all concerned,” he added.

Giving the details about the early morning encounter, Sajjannar said the police brought the accused to the crime spot as part of investigation. “We brought them to the spot early in the morning to recover the objects which the victim had left. We found power bank, watch and cellphone of the woman,” he said.

#WATCH Telangana Police briefs the media on today's encounter https://t.co/wMljp3hapb

— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2019

“The accused then attacked the police with sticks, snatched the weapons (guns) from us and started firing on policemen. The officers warned them and asked them to surrender but they continued to fire. Then we opened fire and they were killed in the encounter,” Sajjannar said. The entire thing lasted for 10-15 minutes, he added.

There were around 10 police with the accused and two of them received grievous injuries. They have been shifted to the local hospital, the top cop said.

“The accused had previous crime records. We will probe into their past crimes. There were instances of rape and burning cases in the past in Karnataka and Maharashtra. We are suspecting the hand of these four accused in such incidents,” Sajjannar said.

The encounter has received widespread praise from people and many of the politicians have said it will help states find ways to teach criminals an immediate lesson.

The woman’s father said her soul will rest in peace now.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognizance of news reports about the encounter and has ordered a probe.

It said in a statement that the incident clearly indicates that the police personnel were neither alert nor prepared for any untoward activity. “The deceased had been arrested by the police during investigation and a judgment in the matter by the competent court was yet to be pronounced. If, the arrested persons were actually guilty, they were to be punished as per law pursuant to the directions of the competent court.”

“The commission is of the opinion that this matter is required to be probed very carefully. Accordingly, it has asked its Director General (Investigation) to immediately send a team for a fact finding on the spot investigation into the matter,” the NHRC said.