INVESTIGATORS probing the November 27 gang-rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad claimed that two of the four suspects had confessed to raping and burning nine other women. The four youths were later killed on the outskirts of Hyderabad in what the police claimed was an “encounter”.
A team from Cyberabad police is camping in Karnataka to piece together some of the cases as the crimes allegedly took place in the Telangana-Karnataka border areas.
The four suspects, Mohammed Areef, J Naveen, J Shiva and Ch Chennakesavulu, raped and set on fire the young veterinarian on the outskirts of Hyderabad. “Once we took them into custody, we were considering their role in 15 cases of women raped and burnt in Telangana and Karnataka on the highways. Two of the accused confessed to nine offences of rape and murder,” a top police officer claimed on Tuesday.
“We are verifying each case and therefore teams have been sent to various locations,” the official said.
The startling police claim comes at a time when a government-appointed special investigation team (SIT) has been asked to probe the December 6 encounter in which the four men were gunned down.
A Supreme Court-appointed three-member commission led by retired judge V S Sirpurkar will also probe the encounter. On Tuesday, Telangana police claimed Areef was involved in six offences, while Chennakesavulu raped and murdered three women. Telangana police told TOI that Areef and Chennakesavulu allegedly committed the crime on highways at Sanga Reddy, Ranga Reddy and Mahbubnagar in Telangana, and bordering towns in Karnataka.
Investigators are trying to corroborate the confession, relying on mobile phone tower locations of the two suspects and the areas where those nine rape-murders took place.
“The duo claimed they sexually abused many women, including prostitutes and transgenders, on highways. However, they said that in nine offences the women were killed and then burnt to death, like the veterinarian,” the official added.
With all forensic reports already in possession of the Cyberabad police, a closure report is expected to be filed by officials shortly.