The Supreme Court-appointed Justice Sirpurkar Commission inquiring into the alleged encounter of the four accused in the rape and murder of Disha on December 6, 2019, inspected the crime scene on Sunday.
Accompanied by investigating officer J Surender Reddy, the Commission’s chairman and Supreme Court retired judge Justice V.S. Sirpurkar, members - Justice Rekha Sondur-Baldota and former director of CBI Dr. D.R. Karthikeyan, first went to the safe house (Ravi guesthouse) at Mirjaguda, where the four accused - Mohammed Arif, Ch. Chennakesavulu, Jollu Shiva and Jollu Naveen - were questioned during their police custody.
Later, they went to Chatanpalli underpass to have first-hand experience of the scene of offence where Disha’s body was set on fire by the four accused after she was sexually assaulted and killed in the late hours of November 27, 2019. “As the underpass was filled with water, they had a look at the spot by standing on the National Highway,” an officer said.
The members further walked to the spot, a few metres away from the underpass, where the four accused were killed in an exchange of fire in the wee hours of December 6, 2019. The commission members along with advocates Parameshwar and Virupaksha Dattatreya Gouda examined the spot for more than an hour and left for Shadnagar police station, where the accused were brought after they were picked up from their respective houses in Narayanpet district on November 29, 2019. The members also saw the MRO office, hospital and local court buildings at Shadnagar from their moving cars.
On their way back to the city, the SC-appointed commission inspected the open plot abutting the national near Tondupally toll plaza, the place where the 27-year-old veterinarian was gang-raped and killed by the four youngsters. There they had a brief interaction with Disha’s father and told him that they empathise with his feelings.
“I requested them to hear my plea, but they said they cannot spare time to interact with me,” the victim’s father told The Hindu .
Rachakonda Commissioner of Police and Special Investigation Team chief Mahesh Bhagwat and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shamshabad Zone) N. Prakash Reddy also accompanied the panel members during their visit.
Sources said that Commission members are likely to visit Chatanpalli again in the early hours of Monday (December 6) to testify the versions of police officials who appeared before them on climatic conditions of December 6 as by coincidence the incident took place on the same day of the calender year.
