Hyderabad : 16/09/2021

Telangana: Two killed in Disha encounter were minors, says headmaster

Courtesy by : Mahesh Buddi | TNN | Sep 15, 2021, THE TIMES OF INDIA 

HYDERABAD: The headmaster of Gudigandla government school, where two of the four alleged encounter victims studied, has informed the VS 

Sirpurkar

 Commission that the two were minors at the time of the encounter in 2019. In fact, one of the accused was less than 16 years old. The teacher also revealed that police personnel obtained their details from the school records a few days after the ‘Disha incident’ .

On Tuesday, headmaster 

V Narasimhulu

, a second grade teacher of MPP School, Gudigandla village, deposed as a witness before the Supreme Court-appointed Commission of Inquiry, probing the alleged encounter killing of four persons accused of gang-rape and murder of veterinarian Disha in December 2019. Quoting from the school records, which were also furnished to the commission, the headmaster mentioned that two encounter victims— Jollu 

Shiva Kumar

 and C Chennakeshavulu — had studied at the school.

According to 

Narasimhulu

, Shiva Kumar, son of Rajanna from Gudigandla village, took admission in class 2 in the academic year 2008-2009 on August 26, 2008. “He had completed class 5 and left the school on September 24, 2012, to join Zilla Parishad High School (ZPHS), Lalkota,” the headmaster said.

While answering the commission’s counsel 

Virupaksha Gowda

, the headmaster mentioned that C Chennakeshavulu, son of C Kurmaiah, had joined the school on July 4, 2014, and his date of birth, as per records, was April 10, 2004. He was less than 16 years at the time of the encounter in 2019.

The school teacher mentioned that three or four days after the Disha incident, the MEO had telephoned him during the night and told him that police might come and he should show them the school records. “I went to the school by 10.30pm and police came there. When they asked for the records of J Shiva Kumar and Chennakeshavulu, I showed them the records. They have taken photos of the records with their phones. When I asked them their identity, one of them told that he is SI of Shamshabad PS,” Narasimhulu told the commission.

During the cross-examination, state counsel V Surender Rao asked about the process of registering the date of birth of a student in school records, the headmaster mentioned that, “generally in villages most of them are illiterates and whatever date of birth parents of the students provide, we record it in the register.”

At this juncture, commission chairman Sirpurkar posed a question, “Do any parents give birth certificate at the time of admission of their child?” Narasimhulu said: “If birth takes place in a hospital, we ask for birth certificate. Otherwise, we take it as per the declaration of the parents.” The headmaster also mentioned that if parents bring birth certificate at the time of admission, they make a note in the remarks column of the admission register.

Counsel for kin of accused seeks nod to cross-examine witnesses:

Independent counsel PV Krishnamachary, who is representing the families of the four persons killed in the alleged encounter related to the Disha case, submitted a petition before the commission seeking permission to cross-examine the state and police witnesses. The commission heard the petitioner and the objections raised by the advocates representing the state and police personnel and reserved its orders.