Timeline of events from November 27, 2019 to December 6, 2019
November 27, 2019– The 27-year-old veterinarian goes missing near Hyderabad’s Shamshabad toll plaza. Mohammed Ali alias Arif, Jollu Naveen, Chennakeshavulu alias Chenna and Jollu Shiva all four were accused of raping and murdering her. After that, the accused are said to have taken her body to a nearby under-construction bridge and set it on fire.
Earlier, around 6.15 p.m., the victim parked her two-wheeler at the toll gate and hired a cab to Gachibowli. Her bike had a flat tyre when she returned around 9 p.m. She called her sister at 9.22 p.m. to say she was afraid and to ask her to keep talking to her.
November 28, 2019– The burnt body of a Hyderabad veterinarian recovered by police.
November 29, 2019– Police arrested all the four suspects and place them in Cherlapally Central Prison’s high-security cells for a period of 14 days. They were charged under sections 302 (murder), 375 (rape), and 362 of the Indian Penal Code (abduction).
December 4, 2019– The Telangana government has formed a special court to try the four accused in the case. Three police officers have been suspended for allegedly failing to file a FIR in the case of the ‘missing’ woman veterinarian, who was subsequently discovered raped and murdered.
December 6, 2019– The accused is taken to Chatanpally by the police in order to recover the victim’s phone at around 3: 00 A.M.
3:45 A.M.: The police and the perpetrator arrive at the scene of the crime, where the latter is accused of burning the victim alive.
3:55 A.M.: The police demand that the accused show them where the victim’s belongings were disposed of.
4:05 A.M.: The accused begin walking into the field with the police to show them where the victim’s phone, wrist watch, and power bank were thrown.
4:30 A.M.: The accused begin/pretend to check for the victim’s belongings until 5.30 a.m.
5:30 A.M.: The accused snatches two guns from the officers and flees.
5:40 A.M.: The accused are asked to raise their hands in the air and surrender their arms.
5:55 A.M.: Two of the accused threw stones at the officers, while the other two took up positions and pointed their stolen guns at them.
6:10 A.M.: The police are attempting to reclaim the weapons.
6:15 A.M.: In an encounter, the police opened fire on the accused, killing all four of them.
6:30 A.M.: The investigative officials inform senior officers about the encounter and the accused’s death.
December 8, 2019– According to reports, eleven bullets were recovered from the bodies of the four accused persons in the Hyderabad doctor’s rape and murder case, who were shot by police in the early hours of December 6 at Chatanpally near Shadnagar.
A team of forensic experts recovered the bullets during a postmortem at Mahbubnagar Government Hospital, where the bodies are being preserved in accordance with High Court orders. The bodies of prime accused Mohd Pasha alias Areef, Jollu Shiva, and Jollu Naveen each had two bullets recovered, and the body of Chintakunta Chennakesavalu had three bullets recovered. Shiva was shot in the neck, while the others sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.
Meanwhile, on December 7, 24 hours after the encounter, the clues team used sophisticated equipment to sweep the encounter site. They gathered bullet clips, grenades, and pellets used in the shootout between the accused and the police officers.
Since it had become difficult to identify bullets and other metal parts in the dense foliage, the clues team that arrived on Saturday brought equipment such as metal detectors to track the material items at the site. On Friday, the team seized two handguns from the accused’s hands, as well as blood samples, Gunshot Residue (GSR), and other evidence. In this encounter case, Surender Reddy has been appointed as the investigating officer.
December 12, 2019– A three member inquiry commission is constituted by the Supreme Court in encounter in Telangana Rape case. The commission will be led by former Supreme Court Justice VS Sirpurkar, former Bombay High Court Judge RP Sondurbaldota and former CBI director DR Karthikeyan. The bench also ordered that all proceedings initiated by the Telangana High Court and the National Human Rights Commission into the Telangana encounter be stayed, and that no other courts should hear any pleas related to the case.
The bench also said,” We believe that an unbiased investigation into the death of the four people accused of gang rape and murdering a veterinarian in Telangana should be conducted.” It also mentioned that there are aspects of Telengana version which needs an inquiry.
December 13, 2019– The division bench in Telangana High Court has asked the state government to preserve the bodies of the accused killed in encounter until further notice.
December 19, 2019– The families of four accused in the Disha rape and murder case moved Supreme Court seeking a compensation of Rs. 50 lakhs each and CBI investigation into the alleged “fake” encounter.
December 21, 2019– The Telangana High Court ordered re-postmortem of the bodies of the four accused killed in the police encounter. The court also ordered SIT to investigate the incident, seize the weapon used in the encounter and send them to the forensic lab for analysis, collect the case dairy, logbooks, the registered FIR, etc for the analysis. All collected evidences are to be presented before the inquiry commission set up by the Supreme Court.
December 23, 2019– Three member team of forensic expert reached Hyderabad for the re-postmortem of all the four accused in Disha Rape and murder case.
December 30, 2019– The re-postmortem report of the four accused in the Disha rape and murder case was submitted to the Telangana High Court by the Forensics Department of AIIMS.
January 17, 2020– The Supreme Court defined the power of the commission set up for the inquiry in the encounter in Telangana Rape case.
“To inquire into the alleged incident resulting in the death of four persons on December 6, 2029 in Hyderabad, namely, Mohammed Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, Jolu Shiva and Jollu Naveen, who were arrested in connection with the rape and murder of a young veterinary lady doctor, while they were in the custody of police,” the bench said as its first term of reference.
For the second term of reference the court said it would “inquire into the circumstances that led to the death of afore-mentioned four persons and to ascertain as to whether any offence appears to have been committed in the course. If yes, to fix the responsibility of erring officials.”
The commission has to submit its report within a period of six months from the date of first hearing in the matter. The commission has to fix its first day of hearing at Hyderabad. The chairman will choose secretarial assistance, and the state government will make provisions in this regard. The commission will be provided security by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The commission has all the powers to inquire under the Commission of Inquiry Act. (Chairman will be provided Rs. 1.5 lakh per sitting and others members Rs. 1 lakh and all others expenses will be borne by the Telangana Government.)
February 3, 2020– The three member inquiry commission constituted by the Supreme Court reached Telangana High court and commenced its task from the chamber allotted to then in ‘C’ blocks building on court premises.
February 28, 2020– The Supreme Court rejected a plea seeking a compensation of Rs. 50 lakh and FIR against the police personnel over the encounter in which all the four accused were killed.
The court while quashing the plea suggested the petitioner to approach the inquiry commission for the same. The petitioner also sought quashing of FIR against the four deceased for attempting to kill some police personnel. The Bench headed by Justice SA Bobde said, “We are not inclined to entertain this petition at this statue. The petitioner is at liberty to tender evidence before the commission set up by this court….after the commission gives the report petitioner will be at liberty to claim compensation before the High Court”.
The petitioners were Pinjari Hussain father of Ahmed, Jollu Rajaya father of Jollu Siva, Chinthakuntla Kurmanna father of Chinthakuntla and Jollu Lakshmi mother of Jollu Naveen.
July 24, 2020– The Supreme Court extended the time for inquiry by 6 months for the commission to conclude the investigation while hearing the panel’s plea.
As of now, the extension provided to the inquiry commission is the last update in the encounter case.