'Never thought of killing': Ex-Police who handled Nirbhaya case on Hyderabad encounter

Former Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar, who handled the 2012 Nirbhaya Delhi gangrape-and-murder case, on Friday said the thought of killing the accused never crossed his mind. Former Delhi Police commissioner recalled that it was a "tough time" when the Nirbhaya case was reported in December 2012 since the policemen were treated as "rapists." The statement comes in the wake of an encounter of all four accused in the Hyderabad rape and murder case by state Police. 

"There was a lot of pressure at that time, but the thought of killing them never came. We were getting messages, asking us to throw the accused in front of hungry lions. Someone said castrate them in public, someone said lynch them, but we just stuck to our guns. There was no question of doing anything illegal," former Delhi Police commissioner Neeraj Kumar said. 

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"To investigate what actually happened and transpired, there is a judicial inquiry that has been ordered. We have to wait for its findings to know whether the encounter was justified or not," the ex-cop who handled the Nirbhaya case said.  

Encounter details 

Cyberabad Commissioner VC Sajjanar on Friday narrated the sequence of the encounter. Addressing a press brief, he said that 10 police officers had accompanied the accused to retrieve the victim's personal belongings from the crime scene. He added that two of the accused snatched their weapons and began firing on them.

"As the police party approached the area, all the four accused got together and started attacking the police party with stones, sticks and other materials. They also snatched away weapons from two of our police officers and started firing. The encounter happened around 5:45 and 6:15 AM. The duration of the entire operation was 10 mins. 10 police personnel were present with the accused," he said.

"Even though our police maintained restraint and asked them to surrender, they did not listen and continued to attack us. So we fired in retaliation and the four accused got killed. After the firing, we examined the bodies and found bullet injuries. Two of our police officers got injured - head injuries, but no bullet injuries. They were sent to the local hospital. Two of the accused Mohammed Arif and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu were found with weapons snatched from police officials," he added. The police stated that they interrogated the accused on December 4 and 5 once they were taken into police custody. The police believe that the accused may be involved in other such 'woman-burning' incidents in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. The investigation for the same is on.

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