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HYDERABAD: Investigators probing the November 27 gang-rape, murder and burning of a veterinary doctor Disha in Hyderabad have claimed that two of the four suspects had confessed to raping and burning nine other women. The four suspects — Mohammed Areef, J Naveen, J Shiva and Ch Chennakeshavulu — were later shot dead on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Dec 6 in a police “encounter”.

A team from Cyberabad police is currently camping in Karnataka to piece together some of the cases as the crimes allegedly took place on the Telangana-Karnataka border areas.

“Once we took them into custody, we began considering their role in 15 cases of women being raped and burnt in Telangana and Karnataka on the highways. Two of the accused — Areef and Chennakeshavulu — confessed to nine offences of rape and murder,” a senior police officer claimed on Tuesday.

“We are verifying each case and therefore teams have been sent to various locations,” the official said.

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The police claim comes at a time when a Supreme Court has appointed a three-member commission led by retired judge V S Sirpurkar to probe the encounter.

Cops told TOI that Areef and Chennakeshavulu committed the crime on highways at Sangareddy, Rangareddy, Mahbubnagar in Telangana and bordering towns in Karnataka. Investigators are trying to corroborate the confession relying on mobile phone tower locations of the two suspects and the areas where those nine rape-murders took place.

“The duo claimed that they sexually abused many women, including prostitutes and transgenders, on the highways. But they claimed that in nine offences the women were killed and then burnt like the veterinarian,’’ the official added.

With forensic reports already in the possession of Cyberabad police, a closure report is expected to be filed by officials soon in the vet’s rape and murder case.

(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)

