Footage from near the Tondupally toll plaza, where veterinarian Disha (name changed) was raped and murdered on 27 November, turned out to be a crucial piece of evidence for the Telangana police to crack the case.
The four accused in the murder of the 26-year-old were nabbed two days after the crime, and later shot dead in a reported encounter that took place on the morning of December 6.
In the CCTV footage that television channel India Today has accessed, a truck is seen entering from the right side of the frame near the Tondupally toll plaza at Shamshabad.
The cursor moves along the truck that comes from the direction of the toll plaza and slowly leaves the area. According to the police’s version of events, Disha was carried in this truck after she was raped and smothered to death by the accused.
The CCTV footage turned out to be of immense importance as the police were able to track the accused after taking note of the truck’s registration number.
According to the details revealed about the case during a press conference held on November 29, the lorry moved from near the toll gate at 10.08 pm, which is when they say the body was put in the lorry. Another CCTV video shows the truck near what is presumably a petrol pump around 1am on November 28.
By around 10.30 pm, two of the accused who were on the victim’s bike, bought petrol from an Indian Oil pump at Kothur.
They then travelled to Shadnagar and stopped on the road above the underpass. Parking the lorry there, they covered the body in a blanket and carried it to the underpass and set it on fire. According to the police, this was done around 2-2.30 am.
The accused were arrested, and later shot dead in a reported encounter on December 6. Areef, Shiva, Naveen and Chennakeshavulu – the four accused – were taken to the site of crime in order to reconstruct the crime scene. According to the Hyderabad police, the accused tried to escape and attacked the police during which all four were killed in retaliatory firing.
A probe has been ordered and an SIT team will be investigating the alleged encounter.
(This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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