Today the nation woke up to a surprising news of four accused in the Hyderabad rape case being killed in an encounter, even as the four men involved in the encounter case- Areef, Shiva, Naveen and Chennakeshavulu, attempted to escape, after they were taken to the crime scene for a recreation of the crime. According to the police, the four accused attempted to attack the policemen by snatching their guns. The encounter took place in the Shadnagar town which is about 50 km away from Cyberabad.
The Hyderabad rape and murder case had shaken the conscience of the entire nation on account of the sheer brutality with which the crime was committed. The dominant opinion within the entire nation seems to be that justice has been delivered in the rape and murder case. Top cop Sajjanar who is handling the Hyderabad rape case has suddenly become a household name after the four accused were killed in the encounter. The Cyberabad Police Commissioner, V C Sajjanar is being hailed by people for delivering ‘instant justice’ in the case ten days after its commission. The victim’s family has also hailed police action. Victim’s father said that his daughter’s soul may finally be at peace. Victim’s sister also lauded the police action and said that Telangana police have solved the case in record time setting an example for the rest of the country.
Sajjanar, a police officer of the Inspector General (IG) rank has had an illustrious career in the police force. He took over as the Cyberabad Police Commissioner in the month of March last year. He started his career in Jangaaon in Warangal district, as the Assistant Superintendent of Police. During his career, he has also served in the intelligence wing, besides serving as an SP in OCTOPUS and economic offences wing.
While top cop, Sajjanar has come into limelight after the encounter that took place today, he was also the Warangal SP when a similar encounter of three acid attack accused in Andhra Pradesh’s Warangal took place. At that time also, the police version was that the personnel had fired at the three accused- Srinivas Rao, P Harikrishna and B Sanjay during a re-enactment of the crime scene after the accused attempted to attack the police by throwing crude bombs.
Apart from the fact that the same cop was leading the police in both the cases, the Warangal and Cyberabad encounter cases have strikingly similar facts too. Similar to the case in Cyberabad, the accused in the acid attack case in Warangal were also arrested within 48 hours and killed during a re-creation of the crime scene. After that case, Sajjanar was hailed as the ‘encounter cop’ by social media users and the victim’s family had lauded the police action. The Cyberabad rape and murder case had caused a nation-wide outrage and was being seen as the second Nirbhaya case that took place in the country. The encounter killings too have garnered a lot of attention with a dominant section hailing the police action as “speedy justice”. The Cyberabad top cop is obviously being lauded as a hero across the nation.
