New Delhi: In a significant development in the case relating to the alleged encounter of the four accused in the rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad, the Telangana high court has ordered a second postmortem examination into the bodies of the deceased within 48 hours.

“This court directs the Principal Secretary, Medical & Health, Government of Telangana, to request the superintendent of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, to constitute a Medical Board of three senior most forensic doctors, and to immediately send the said team to Hyderabad so that the second autopsy on the four bodies can be carried out as expeditiously as possible, and certainly before 5: 00 pm., on 23.12.2019,” read the judgement passed by a bench of two judges, headed by chief justice of the high court Raghvendra Singh Chauhan.

“The peculiar facts of this case have also raised certain burning issues, which need to be dealt with by the Judiciary, and by the Commission. Since the alleged accused persons have been killed, while they were in police custody, the faith of the people in the rule of law needs to be restored to its pristine, and primary position. Therefore, while investigating the case, the objectivity and impartiality of the investigation should not only be maintained, but it must also appear to be maintained and, indeed, performed,” the court noted in its order.

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The bodies of the four men, who were accused in the rape and murder of a woman veterinarian and were killed in an alleged encounter with the state police on December 6, are currently preserved in the government-run Gandhi Hospital in the state capital as per earlier court orders. According to the court order, after the autopsy, the bodies shall be handed over to their families.

The court has also directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) “to seize the case diary, the Log Books, the Entries of the Weapon, the Movement Reports of the police from the date of filling of the FIR dealing with the alleged rape and murder of the lady veterinary doctor till the date of the alleged encounter.”

Moreover, the court also said, “the SIT should also seize the weapons used by the police in alleged encounter and send the same for forensic examination and ballistic report”. The SIT was appointed by the state government on December 8.

The order further noted, “The SIT should also collect the call details record, and the details with regard to the cell-tower locations as well as the CCTV footage of the Police Station from where the alleged offenders were taken, and to collect all the necessary evidence, which may be useful for the perusal of the commission appointed by the apex court.”

The apex court had last week ordered setting up of a three-member inquiry commission to probe the alleged encounter case and stayed proceeding before Telangana high court and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) until further orders. The panel constituted former Supreme Court judge V.S. Sirpurkar, former Bombay high court judge Rekha S. Baldota and former CBI director D.R. Karthikeyan.

According to a news report, families of the four men killed in the alleged encounter have moved to the Supreme Court, alleging that the accused were killed in a stage-managed gunfight. Moreover, the families have also sought directions to the Telangana government to pay them Rs 50 lakh compensation each.

Also read: Hyderabad Encounter: The Response to Brutality Cannot Be Brutality

As per a report by ANI, families of the four rape and murder accused, who were killed in the alleged encounter have filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking the registration of an FIR, investigation and criminal action against police personnel who were involved it.

They sought to quash the FIR registered by the police against the deceased, in which police had claimed that the accused had committed a crime of attempting to murder police personnel prior to the encounter, reported the news agency.

It may be recalled that the Telangana Police had claimed that the four accused were shot dead in the early hours of December 6, when they attempted to flee from custody. According to the police, the accused also allegedly snatched a weapon and fired at the police, forcing the police to shoot back.