Panel probing Telangana encounter deaths holds first sitting

: The three-member inquiry commission, set up to go into the circumstances leading to the encounter killing of the four accused in the gang-rape and murder of a veterinarian in Telangana, held its first sitting here on Monday.

The Special Investigation Team probing the case called on the commission headed by former Supreme Court judge V S Sirpurkar, official sources told PTI.

They, however, did not elaborate on what transpired in the sitting.

The commission was appointed by the Supreme Court in December last year to go into the circumstances that led to the December 6 encounter deaths which evoked praise but also sparked concerns over extra-judicial killings.

The panel, which included former Bombay High Court judge Rekha Sondur Baldota and former CBI director D R Karthikeyan, has been directed by the apex court to submit its report in six months from the first day of hearing.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde had on December 12 stayed the proceedings pending in the Telangana High Court and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over the encounter and sought a SIT report into it.

It had passed orders on petitions alleging that the pre-dawn encounter was a fake and seeking an independent investigation against the police officers involved.

The four accused were arrested on November 29 two days after they allegedly kidnapped the veterinarian, killed her after raping and then burning the body at Chattanpalli near here.

They were killed in police firing on December 6 at Chattanpalli when they were taken to the scene of crime as part of investigation.

The Cyberabad police had said its personnel resorted to retaliatory firing after two of the accused opened fire at them after snatching their weapons.

Also, the accused attacked the personnel with sticks and stones, resulting in injuries to two policemen, they had said.