NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court ordered an independent judicial probe into the state police killing of four accused in the rape and murder case in Telangana on Dec 6.
The top court set up a 3-member inquiry commission comprising SC judge VS Sirpurkar, Bombay High Court judge Redkha Baldota and retired CBI director Karthikeyan, to examine the circumstances surrounding the so-called encounter.
On parallel, the Supreme Court also stayed the proceedings in Telangana High Court and the National Human Rights Commission, into the incident.
The Bench has been given six months to complete investigations.
A police team headed by Commissioner Sajjanar took Mohammed Arif, Chintakakunta, Chennakeshavaulu, Jollu Shiva and Jollu Naveen , all lorry workers, to the crime scene in small hours of 6 December, to collect evidence. According to the state govt, the men grabbed guns from the police and tried to kill them in a bid to escape. The cops the fired in retaliation killing all four on the spot, the advocate appearing for Telangana govt told SC..
“Justice can never be instant and should not take the form of revenge,” Chief Justice had said soon after the incident.
The killings made the Commissioner Sajjanar a hero among crowds across the country. However, doubts on why and how all the accused in a high-profile case were shot dead even before a preliminary probe, began to arise shortly after the initial pomp.
