All 4 accused shot dead in encounter

All four men accused in Indian Hyderabad veterinarian's rape and murder case have been killed in a police encounter at Shadnagar, sources have said.

The police said the four accused were shot dead on Friday morning in an encounter on the NH-44 near Hyderabad -- the same highway where the charred body of 26-year-old Disha was found.

As per initial reports, the four accused had been taken to the spot for recreation of the crime scene when they tried to escape.

Nationwide protests had erupted after charred body of a 26-year-old woman was found in an underpass on Hyderabad outskirts on November 28.

The 26-year-old veterinary doctor was smothered, raped and then burnt by four men night and her body was found the next day on November 28 under a culvert on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway.

According to the Cyberabad police, the four accused had punctured the rear wheel of her scooter, offered to help her, dragged her to a secluded spot close to a toll plaza and raped her. It said the victim died due to suffocation and the accused later burnt her body.

The Cyberabad police had arrested four men on November 29 in connection with their involvement in the rape and murder case.

The accused were identified as Mohammad Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen, and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu. Mohammad Areef (25), who worked as a driver, was the prime accused in the case.

The four accused in the gruesome gangrape and murder of a woman veterinarian doctor had been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

Source:India Today