After a day of high drama with a standoff between a large mob of protestors and the police, a magistrate in Telangana's Shadnagar Town sent all four accused in the gruesome gangrape and murder of a woman veterinarian to judicial custody for 14 days.
The Mandal Executive Magistrate passed the orders at Shadnagar police station as the accused could not be produced in a fast-track court at Mahabubnagar, mainly because of the tense situation that prevailed outside the police station. The magistrate was brought to the police station from the back door.
Accused Mohammed Arif, Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, Jollu Shiva and Jollu Naveen are likely to be shifted to Mahabubnagar jail.
After repeated requests by officials failed to pacify the crowd, the police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the protestors.
Demanding that the accused be publicly hanged, citizens were staging protest at the police station since Friday morning.
Raising slogans of "we want justice", angry local residents, members of women's groups and students squatted in front of the police station in the town, about 50 km from Hyderabad. They were demanding that the accused be hanged immediately without inquiry and trial.
Earlier in the day, with the police unable to shift the accused out of the police station, three doctors of a government hospital were also brought to the spot to conduct medical tests, before the magistrate's visit.
Police tightened security and deployed additional force around the police station to prevent violence.
Shadnagar police station is handcuffed. Crowd out side the police station is increasing every hour so the police have decided to lock down the police station. pic.twitter.com/yepxdf53dP
— Agasthya Kantu (@agasthyakantu) November 30, 2019
The 27-year-old veterinarian was gangraped and killed allegedly by two truck drivers and two cleaners near a toll plaza on Wednesday, close to the Outer Ring Road (ORR), at Hyderabad's Shamshabad area, just a few km away from the city's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA).
The police said that after killing the woman, they later shifted the body to a place near Shadnagar town and set it afire. The charred body of the victim was found on Thursday morning.
Cyberabad police on Friday night announced the arrest of the four accused, who allegedly trapped the victim by deflating a tyre of a scooty parked near the toll plaza.
Police took the accused to the crime scenes on Friday night to reconstruct the crime and record their statements. It is likely to seek custody of the accused for further questioning.
The chilling audio of the last phone call made by the vet, to her sister, just moments before the crime, triggered outrage and sparked protests across the country. Many demanded justice and said that the trial must conclude swiftly.
The Bar Associations of Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar districts have decided that they will not take up the case of the accused in court.
IANS inputs
Read: