The Telangana Police on Friday, speaking on the early morning encounter of four accused in the rape and murder of a woman veterinarian, said: “the law has done its duty”.

Amid aspersions being cast on the alleged encounter, Cyberabad Police Chief VC Sajjanar at a press briefing revealed the details of the early morning incident.

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He said the police interrogated the accused on December 4 and 5 after taking them into custody. Today morning, the men were brought to the crime spot to recreate the November 27 incident as part of the investigation.

The accused then attacked the police with sticks and then snatched the weapons from them and started firing, the top cop claimed.

Sajjanar further claimed the police warned the accused and asked them to surrender but they continued to fire. Then we opened fire and they were killed in the encounter, he said.

The entire thing lasted for 10-15 minutes, he added.

During the encounter, two policemen were also injured and were shifted to a local hospital. There were around 10 police with the accused during the time of encounter.

The police suspect the accused to have been involved in many other cases in Karnataka, for which an investigation has been initiated.

“The accused had previous crime records. We will probe into their past crimes. There were instances of rape and burning cases in the past in Karnataka and Maharashtra. We are suspecting the hand of these four accused in such incidents,” Sajjannar said.

The police have seized two weapons from the accused and the bodies of the men have been shifted to a local govt hospital for PME.

The police have also recovered the victim’s power bank, watch and cellphone from the spot of encounter.

On the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) taking suo motu cognizance of today’s encounter, the Cyberabad Police Chief said they will answer to whoever takes cognizance, the state government, the NHRC and to all concerned.

Initiating a probe into the encounter, the NHRC has asked its Director General (Investigation) to immediately send a team for a fact-finding on-the-spot investigation into the matter.

Opinions have been divided over the encounter killings of the accused.

While many have hailed the Hyderabad Police for the act, others including lawyers and politicians have condemned the entire incident.

In a major development, all four accused in the rape and murder of woman veterinarian in Hyderabad were killed in an encounter with the police when they were trying to escape during the recreation of the crime at the same spot where the woman’s body was found.

The 27-year-old woman veterinary doctor was on November 27 gangraped and murdered near the Tondupally toll plaza in Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad and her body was dumped and burnt 25 km away at the Chatanpally Bridge in the Ranga Reddy district, sending shockwaves across the nation.