Hyderabad encounter: HC asks state to preserve accused’s bodies till Dec 13

In a fresh development, the Telangana High Court, which is hearing petitions seeking a probe into the Hyderabad encounter, has asked officials to preserve the bodies of the four accused till Friday, December 13. The four men, Mohammed Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chennakeshavulu, accused in the 26-year-old Hyderabad veterinarian’s rape and murder case, were shot dead on Friday last week during an alleged exchange of fire.

The high court on Monday also directed the officials to move the bodies in air-conditioned ambulances to Hyderabad’s Gandhi Hospital and ordered that they be preserved there till the court’s next hearing.  

The high court also appointed Advocate Prakash Reddy as an amicus curiae to assist the court in the case. The court has ordered the Advocate General to produce documents with regards to filing an FIR against police as per the Supreme Court guidelines on the investigation of encounters. The High Court also stated that PUCL V/S State of Maharashtra judgement, where the SC issued these guidelines, is law under Article 141 of the Constitution and therefore must be implemented. 

The court has adjourned the case till Thursday, December 12, which is a day after the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the two petitions filed over the reported encounter.

Two Public Interest Litigations (PILs) have been filed in the Supreme Court — one by Advocate ML Sharma who has sought an SIT probe under the scrutiny of the former apex court judges and the second petition has been filed by GS Mani and Pradeep Kumar Yadav, who have sought an independent investigation against the concerned police officials involved in the reported encounter.

Earlier this week, soon after the reported encounter on December 6, where the Cyberabad Police gunned down the four accused in alleged "retaliatory firing" during a scene recreation at the crime spot for investigation, a petition was filed in the high court seeking a probe into the incident. 

Several women civil rights activists had filed the petition seeking judicial intervention in the probe. Agreeing to hear their plea, the court had directed officials to preserve the accused’s bodies until today (Monday).  On December 9, a CD (video-recording) of the post-mortem was also submitted as per the court’s orders.