HYDERABAD: J Pandu, Tahsildar, Farooqnagar mandal, Rangareddy district, deposed before the Commission, appointed to probe the death of the four accused in the rape and murder case of a veterinarian at Shadnagar in 2019, for the second consecutive day. Pandu, who had earlier deposed before the Commission, said that the bodies of the four accused who were killed in an encounter were shifted in an ambulance from the incident site to the Government Hospital in Mahabubnagar for postmortem. However, after observing a video clip showing the bodies arriving at the hospital for postmortem played before the Commission, Pandu said the bodies were shifted in a Tata Ace ambulance.
“The ambulance I referred to earlier is an ambulance to transport bodies and so, I said ambulance. But today, while describing the vehicle, I said ‘Tata Ace Ambulance’,” he said. When the Commission asked him how he could suddenly remember that the bodies were transported in a ‘Tata Ace Ambulance’, he said, “I recollected about the vehicle in which the bodies were transported.” Further, referring to the arrest of the accused in the rape and murder case, Pandu stated that he didn’t receive any request from V Surender, ACP Shadnagar, to conduct arrest panchnama of the accused.
However, when confronted with a letter from ACP Shadnagar, he said that he received the request letter. As the Judicial Magistrate, Shadnagar, was under training, Pandu was acting as the in charge Magistrate at Shadnagar and the accused were produced before him for remand. Since there was a huge crowd at Shadnagar police station, where the accused were lodged, on the request of police, he went to the police station and conducted the arrest proceedings.
The counsel for the Commission asked him whether he understood anything from the remand report of the four accused, he said he doesn’t remember. The Commission then allowed him to read the remand report and asked him what he understood. He replied, “I can’t say even after reading the report.” He also stated that he had signed on the typed remand report, which was brought to him and that he did not check with the accused about any other personal details except for their name, father’s name and date of birth.
Judge deposes before Commission
Principal Junior Civil Judge at Shadnagar K Asha Rani, who conducted the magisterial inquiry into the death of the four accused, also deposed before the Commission on Saturday. She examined the family members of the accused during the postmortem examination at Government Hospital, Mahabubnagar, on the night of December 6, 2019. However, she didn’t find that they mentioned the age of the accused to her.