Hyderabad: A couple of sharpshooters in the Cyberabad police shot dead the four accused Disha from a distance of about 20 to 25 yards and there is no possibility of any of them witnessing the death of any other, as all were shot dead away from each other. Had they been shot from close range, the gunshot residue would have been visible on their bodies — something that would have suggested foul play.
A week after this newspaper reported how investigators were reportedly “looking at other options,” in the backdrop of growing public anger soon after the four were arrested on November 29, they were gunned down by police on the city outskirts in the early hours of Friday.
Sources associated with the investigation of the Disha case and privy to the details of the “encounter”, told this newspaper that all four were brought to the scene in different vehicles around 4.30 am — while it was still dark. “They hardly slept last night and were still sleepy when they were brought for reconstruction of the crime scene,” sources said.
In fact, ever since they were taken into custody on November 4, the four men had been kept apart from one another. It was only when they were trying to conceal information that they were confronted with each other. “From the day they were arrested, all were scared after being told about the public’s rage,” sources said.
When asked whether all were scared, sources replied in the positive. One even pleaded that they had “committed a big mistake.”
Interestingly, there are different versions doing the rounds about the discovery of Disha’s mobile phone, power bank and watch. While sources indicated that it became known on Thursday itself where it was hidden, for some reasons it was found only on Friday, after the encounter.
It is reliably learnt that the first among the four to die was 27-year-old Muhammed Arif. If sources are to be believed, Arif reportedly hurled abuses at the policemen during his last moments. “All faced different directions and none of them saw each other die,” they said.
Though the police said that Arif and Chenna Keshavulku snatched weapons from the two policemen and then opened fire at the police party — about 15 of them — what is not known is how many rounds were fired and how the police team escaped the firing without being hit by a single bullet.
“We still do not know how many rounds were fired,” Cyberabad police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar said. “That will be known after a thorough investigation.”
