HYDERABAD: The SC-appointed three-member inquiry commission probing the alleged encounter killing of four suspects in the Disha rape and murder case has so far examined 14 witnesses in three schedules since August 21. The fourth schedule of witness examination will begin from September 21.
In the first schedule, the panel headed by ex-SC judge V S Sirpurkar examined principal Secretary (home) Ravi Gupta, Disha’s sister and investigating officer (IO) J Surender Reddy. While Gupta claimed police fired in self-defence, the panel mostly raised several questions on eye witnesses, injuries to cops and rules. IO Reddy was quizzed again in detail during second schedule in September.
The IO was told to explain failure in collecting CCTV footage from Shadnagar PS, the private guest house where the accused were interrogated in police custody and from the prison where they were lodged during the judicial remand.
The commission also pointed out that despite taking a long time the IO was unable to answer questions. The IO was also grilled about not furnishing hospital records of the injured cops and statement of the guest house owner. IO also admitted that fingerprints of the encounter victims were not found on weapons allegedly snatched by them.
Panchnama witness Rajasekhar had told the commission that two accused snatched weapons from the CI and SI, and police fired at least 10 warning shots in air before opening fire at the accused.
During the third schedule, headmasters of government schools where the victims studied were examined about credibility of entries in school admission records, based on which bona fide certificates were issued. The families cited school records to claim that two of the accused were minors at the time of the alleged encounter.
Finally, the then tahsildar of Farook Nagar, J Pandu, who remanded the accused in judicial custody and subsequently also conducted the inquest of one of the victims, was examined. The Tahsildar admitted that he had signed on the remand report already prepared by the time he reached the Shadnagar PS.
