2019 Hyderabad ‘Encounter’: ‘Truth Is Out!

In the wake of a Supreme Court panel ruling that accused of gangraping and murdering a 26-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad in 2019 were killed by the police over the pretext of an encounter, the refrain from the families was: "The truth is out... the government should support us.".”

“We are not yet fully aware of all the recommendations of the Commission, but we support the police officials,’’ said a close relative.

All the others who hailed the “encounter” 3 years ago — from Ministers to youth organizations in Telangana — reacted on Friday with silence.

Telangana Home Minister M Mahmood Ali, who had backed the police in 2019 and even questioned the victim’s failure to dial 100, said: “I do not want to comment on the issue; let the courts handle it.”

The 4 accused were cousins Jollu Shiva, C Chennakeshavulu, Jollu Naveen, and Mohammed Arif. “It is difficult to accept that my son committed such a heinous crime. What if he had not?” Jollu Rajaiah, the father of Shiva, said.

The truth is out. At least the Commission's recommendation to punish the officials proves that the boys did not attack the police, and they were shot without any chance of going to trial. I hope the courts also recommend that the 4 families receive some compensation because we have lost our breadwinners,’’ said Rajaiah, a daily wage laborer.

C Jayamma, the mother of Chennakeshavulu, said the police officials will now be held accountable for their actions. “But my son will not come back. We need help from the govt, some financial assistance… that would help us a lot,’’ she said.

In March last year, Jayamma lost her husband, C Kurumappa, to injuries sustained in a road accident. She said Chennakeshavulu’s minor wife gave birth to a girl in the same month.

According to the families, Shiva worked as a helper in the truck that was allegedly used in the crime. Chennakeshavulu and Naveen were jobless at the time.

As news spread of the alleged encounter, a crowd gathered on the flyover overlooking the site on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway and showered rose petals and flowers on the police officials below.

Members of the ruling TRS youth organization and others such as NSUI and ABVP from the Shadnagar area who had organized the flowers declined to speak on the record on Friday.

“Justice was delivered and done in the encounter. No one protested then, and no one is protesting even now, except the families of the four accused,’’ said the youth leader of a leading political party.

“The police have already given CCTV proof of how the 4 youths approached the victim after deflating the tyres of her vehicle, took her 2-wheeler after promising to fix the tyres, and after committing the crime, purchased petrol to set her body on fire. Everything is on CCTV,” the leader said.

“That proof was enough to convict them in court, but the police were under intense pressure to ensure instant justice because the brazen crime angered people.

Our disappointment is that the Commission recommended murder charges against the police. ''We all believe that those police officials did what the public wanted,'' he said.