The tale of a police officer and two encounters
HYDERABAD: The encounter of four accused in the gang rape and murder of a 26-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad on Friday was led by Cyberabad Police chief Vishwanath C Sajjannar, who was at the helm of a similar operation in 2008.
Sajjannar, a 1996-batch IPS officer of the Telangana cadre, was the Warangal superintendent of police in 2008, when three men — S Srinivasa Rao, B Sanjay and P Harishkrishna — attacked the two college students with acid on December 10.
The men had thrown acid on Swapinka and Pranitha, both students of Kakatiya Institute of Technology and
Science. While Swapnika died during treatment, Pranitha survived with serious burns.
The three accused were arrested within a day with the incident triggering nationwide protests. The three suspects were taken to the scene of offence to gather evidence, and killed in a police encounter after they allegedly attacked the officials.
The police action came in the wake of a public outcry over the acid attack in which the faces of the two girls were disfigured.
Following the encounter, Sajjannar was hailed as a hero with locals felicitating him with shawls and bouquets.
Sajjannar went on to head the Special Intelligence Branch of the police of the combined Andhra Pradesh. He was instrumental in the elimination of several Maoist leaders in alleged encounters, and the surrender of several other extremists.
Sajjannar was heading the elite anti-maoist wing of the Telengana police, Greyhounds, in August 2016 when Maoist-turned-gangster Mohd Nayeemuddin was killed in an encounter.
With Friday’s encounter of the four accused in Hyderabad rape and murder case, Sajjannar is being flooded with congratulatory messages. Residents in several parts of Hyderabad gave his portraits “milk baths”. At Shadnagar, where the doctor’s charred body was found and the four accused were killed in the encounter, people showered flowers on him and called him a “super cop”.
But several rights activists, however, condemned the encounter. “The police cannot become extrajudicial authority...the police officer cannot commit another crime,” said rights activist and former Hyderabad Central University professor G Haragopal said.