A team from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Saturday reached Hyderabad and started on-the-spot investigation into the alleged police encounter on Friday in which four men accused in the gang-rape and murder of a woman veterinarian were killed.

The team reached the city on Saturday morning and is staying at the Novotel Hotel. Security has been beefed up around the premises with restrictions on entry of media too. The team is expected to first meet the Cyberabad cops and then visited the Tondupally toll plaza and the Chatanpally bridge, where the alleged encounter took place.

Official sources said the team has visited the government hospital at Mahabubnagar, where the bodies of the accused were kept after post-mortem.

The NHRC took cognisance of the encounter killings of the four accused in the case and ordered a probe on Friday.

The apex human rights body in the country had said the encounter was a matter of concern and needed to be investigated carefully.

“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.

The post-mortem of the four accused was done at the Government District Hospital in Mahabubnagar district and videographed.

The Telangana High Court on Friday directed the state government to preserve the bodies of the four accused till 8 pm on December 9.

All the four accused were shot dead by police on Friday during a pre-dawn exchange of fire near Hyderabad. The four suspects were arrested on November 29 for allegedly raping and killing the 26-year-old veterinary surgeon last week.