It’s murder at the hands of police, says human rights lawyer

Navkiran Singh

By Asia Samachar Team | MALAYSIA |

The shooting dead of the four gang-rape and murder suspects in Hyderabad yesterday (6 Dec) was most likely a ‘fake encounter’ as they were already within the custody of the police, says a Punjab-based human rights lawyer.

Based on the information available, Navkiran Singh said the incident looked very much like a fake encounter.

“It’s murder at the hands of the police,” he told Asia Samachar in a telephone conversation when asked to comment on the incident.

On Friday, Indian police was reported to have shot dead the four men accused of gang-raping and murdering a 27-year-old veterinary doctor before setting fire to her body underneath an isolated bridge late on Nov 27. The incident ignited a huge wave of protest on the social media.

The men, who had been in custody for a week over the latest rape case to shock India, were shot in the early hours during a re-enactment of the crime organised by police in Shadnagar, outside the southern city of Hyderabad, according to media reports.

“The police brought the accused to the crime spot as part of the investigation. The accused then started attacking the police with stones and sticks and then snatched the weapons and started firing,” AFP quoted police commissioner VC Sajjanar.

“The police warned them and asked them to surrender but they continued to fire. Then we opened fire and they were killed in the encounter,” he told reporters at the scene, adding that the men had confessed to the crime during interrogation.

In an entry on his firm’s Facebook page, Navkiran wrote: “It’s a shame that the alleged accused have been killed in a false encounter. When you want an eye for an eye both sides go blind. When you give unbridled powers to police and encourage such methods in the name of justice, you kill the system and suffer consequences.”

He noted that some politicians had also condoned the police actions.

Mayawati, the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, said the police action is “commendable” and that justice has been done.

“Had police taken a similar tough action in the case of Nirbhaya gangrape, justice could have been delivered early,” she was quoted in an India Today report.

Nirbhaya (not the original name) was gang-raped and fatally injured by six persons in a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012. Four of the accused were sentenced to death. But the death sentence has not yet been executed.