DISHA PROBE PANEL TO RECORD EVIDENCE FROM TODAY

The three-member inquiry commission constituted by the Supreme Court in the Disha rapemurder and subsequent encounter case has completed collection of records and will be recording evidence from Saturday.

On December 12, 2019, the four accused of raping and murdering Disha reportedly tried to escape from police custody while the police were reconstructing the crime scene at Chatanpally in Ranga Reddy district. The police opened fire leading to their deaths.

The commission is led by former Supreme Court judge Justice VS Sirpurkar and comprises former judge of Bombay High Court RP Sondurbaldota and former CBI director DR Karthikeyan. Recently the apex court had granted a six-month extension to the panel."A total of 1333 affidavits from the general public, and 103 affidavits were received from police and government officials, witnesses, doctors. A voluminous record of the SIT investigation, call data recording (CDR), medical reports, forensic and ballistic reports and other records were also collected," the commission said in a statement here on Thursday. So far the Commission has conducted 16 virtual hearings and passed orders on 24 applications filed by police officials involved in the incident.

Considering the gravity of the issue and the sensitive nature of the evidence, the panel is of the opinion that witnesses have to be examined with physical presence. However, Covid-19 has made it difficult to conduct physical hearings in Hyderabad, said the commission.