Supreme Court orders judicial inquiry to probe Telangana encounter killings

The Supreme Court on December 12, 2019 ordered to constitute an impartial inquiry committee to look into the encounter killings of the four men accused in the gangrape and murder of a veterinarian in Telangana.

The three-member commission will be headed by retired Supreme Court judge VS Sirpurkar. Retired Bombay high court judge Rekha Baldota and former CBI Director Kartikeyan will be the other members of the commission.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde and also comprising Justices S A Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna was hearing two Public Interest Litigations seeking an independent probe into the deaths on December 6, 2019.

The four men – Mohammed Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakunta Chenna Keshavulu – were accused of raping and murdering the veterinarian at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad on the intervening night of November 27 and 28.

The Telangana Government justified the encounter, saying the accused snatched two firearms and shot at a police party.

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