The narrative that was being built throughout the morning in Chatanpally got more dramatic, minutes before Cyberabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar took to the mike.
In the early hours of Friday, news got out that all the four accused in the rape and murder of Disha had been killed in an encounter. Crowds started trickling in and within no time a large number of locals and outsiders gathered near the spot. For close to eight hours, the police cordoned off the site for people and media as forensic team and senior officials got down to work.
Initially, the impression given by the officials was that the accused tried fleeing after attacking the police team with stones. With time, the official account of the sequence of events got more serious and deadly. Chairs and tents were setup at the spot along with an audio system even as the commissioner geared up to hold a press meet, a few metres away from the encounter site. The bodies of all the accused were kept at the spot till afternoon. And just before they were taken away and the commissioner had to hold a press meet, news channels and reporters were given some leeway to get close to the spot.
Two of the four accused had guns in their hands or very close to their bodies. The visuals were broadcasted on news channels and in the ensuing press meet, Sajjanar said that the encounter took place after two of the accused snatched weapons from the officers. He also said that the accused fired at the police officials, prompting them to retaliate and kill them. On how two of the accused could snatch two weapons from police officials, Sajjanar said that they have to inquire about it. A constable and a sub-inspector were also injured, but there were no bullet injuries to them, he added, implying that the officers got hurt after they were physically assaulted by the accused.
When a reporter asked how the accused could fire if the gun was locked, Sajjanar said that the guns were not locked. He also said that the accused were not handcuffed and there was a ten-member police team accompanying them. The commissioner also clarified that the time of the encounter was between 5.45 am and 6.15 am.
Sajjanar said the reason for getting the four accused to the spot was to find some belongings of the victims like power bank and watch. But why all the four accused were brought to the site for recovering these objects is not clear. Also, the commissioner could not provide details on the bullet injuries on the body parts of the accused. During the press meet, the commissioner also said that the accused seem to be hardened criminals who might have indulged in serious offences like the recent one in other states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh—again without going into details.
