New Delhi:
Four suspects in Hyderabad veterinarian's rape and murder case were shot dead while in police custody on Friday. The police said that the four accused were taken to the scene where the victim’s body was found burned as part of an investigation. They attacked police with sticks and at least one of them snatched police weapons that were unlocked and fired shots at them. The police killed them all in a "crossfire". With the killings of all the suspects, the case that triggered a nation-wide outrage has taken a new turn. While a section of people hailed the police action, another questioned the "encounter" theory of the police and termed the killings as "extra-judicial".
Below is the timeline of case:
November 27: Around 9.30 pm, the 25-year old woman employed at a state-run hospital goes missing after she left for a clinic to Gachibowli at around 5.50 pm from her home in Shamshabad area.
November 28: At 3.10 am, vet’s sister files a missing complaint with Shamshabad police, says some people had offered help to the victim whose two-wheeler had a punctured tyre.
November 28: At 9.00 am, a woman’s charred body was found by a local in a passage under the national highway 44. Police inform the family of the veterinarian who identify the body with the help of her belongings.
November 29: Four persons—Jollu Shiva (20), Jollu Naveen (20), Mohammed alias Areef (26) and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu alias Chenna (20), all belonging to Narayanapet district arrested by Cyberabad Police.
November 30: Three policemen suspended for alleged delay in registering an FIR in the case, accused sent to judicial custody for 14 days. Protests break out in city, stones pelted at police vehicle carrying the accused. All the suspects lodged in solitary confinement in high-security cells in Cherlapally Central Prison.
December 1: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announces setting up of a fast track court for expeditious trial and assures all help to her family.
December 3: The Telangana government designates the court of First Additional District and Sessions Judge in Mahabubnagar as special court for speedy trial of the case.
December 4: A court in Shadnagar grants seven days police custody of the four accused.
November 6: The four men, accused of rape and murder of the veterinarian, were killed by police in an “encounter”. The police claim that they first attacked them with sticks and snatched weapons.
(With inputs from PTI)
