New Delhi: The gangrape and murder case of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad in November outraged the nation leading to massive protests in several cities demanding justice to the victim and stringent punishment to the accused. The woman, in her mid-20s, was allegedly raped by four men on November 27. They later set her on fire and dumped her body in the outskirts of the city. Her badly burnt body was recovered a day later by the police, after which the investigation began, leading to the arrest of the four accused. 

On Friday, December 6, the four men were killed in a police encounter at the same spot where the crime was committed. The Cyberabad Police, confirming the encounter, said the accused snatched weapon and fired on police and hence, in self-defence, the police fired back, in which the accused were killed. 

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Here's a timeline of the case:

November 27

The accused saw the woman parking her vehicle near a toll plaza at 6 pm and while consuming alcohol, they discussed her and hatched a plan to commit the crime, the police had said.

Investigations revealed that the victim had left her house to attend the duty at the veterinary hospital. She returned in the evening at the toll plaza, parked her scooty nearby and took a cab to go to Gachibowli in Hyderabad to visit a dermatologist. 

As part of the plan, Naveen deflated the back tyre of the victim's scooty. When the victim, after finishing her work at Gachibowli, returned to toll plaza at 9.18 pm. One of the men approached and told her that her vehicle's back tyre is punctured and offered to get it repaired through his friend and the victim innocently agreed, the police had revealed.

Meanwhile, the victim had called her sister around 9.45 pm and told her that her vehicle got punctured and somebody offered to help her and took her vehicle for repair. She also said that she was feeling frightened due to the presence of some truck drivers near her. The victim's sister had advised her to leave the vehicle, come to the toll plaza and return home by a cab. However, when she later called her back, the mobile was switched off.

As she was waiting for the vehicle, the accused caught hold of her and took her away from the main road and allegedly raped her. The person who had taken the vehicle had also returned. All the four of them raped her one by one, the police had said.

After the rape and murder, the accused put the body in the truck cabin and headed towards Shadnagar. While Arif and Chennakeshavulu were on the truck, the other accused followed them on the victim's scooty. The cleaners on the scooty bought petrol in a bottle from a bunk enroute. The accused also took out diesel from the truck. They all reached Shadnagar crossroads and carried the body to the underpass by covering it in a blanket, set it afire and left.

The investigations also revealed that the duo on the scooty went back to check whether body was properly burnt or not. They later disposed off the two-wheeler near Kothur and all the four accused started in their lorry and returned to Hyderabad.

The victim's family lodged a missing complaint with the police around 11 pm. 

ALSO READ: My daughter got justice today, says victim's father

November 28

The police on Thursday morning found a charred body near Shadnagar and it was identified as the body of the missing woman. 

November 29

Two truck drivers and two cleaners were arrested by Cyberabad Police in connection with the case. Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar said that the accused trapped the 25-year-old victim by deflating one of the tyres of her scooty and raped her near Tondupally toll plaza at Shamshabad.

He said that the victim died of asphyxiation during the rape as the accused had tightly held her mouth. The accused later carried the body 28 km away to Chatanpally bridge near Shadnagar town and set it ablaze. 

The accused had been identified as Mohammed Arif, and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu, both lorry drivers and Jollu Shiva and Jollu Naveen, both lorry cleaners. All of them hailed from Narayanpet district of Telangana.

November 30

The four accused were produced in the court and were sent to 14-day judicial custody. They were later shifted to Chanchalguda Central Jail.

In the evening, three police officials were suspended for negligence in duty in the aftermath of the heinous crime. The action against them was taken after the victim's parents told the National Commission of Women about police negligence.  

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December 1

The Telangana government ordered the setting up of a fast-track for expeditious trial of the accused in the case. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao passed the order after being briefed by the senior state government officials about the growing public protest over the incident across the country and the demand for capital punishment for the accused.

December 6

All the four accused were killed in a police encounter. "The accused were killed in a police encounter at Chatanpally, Shadnagar today in the wee hours, between 3 am and 6 am," the police said. 

The encounter happened at the crime scene in Shadnagar, around 60 km from Hyderabad. The police had taken the accused there for re-construction of events as part of the investigation. However, the four of them tried to escape from the spot and also attacked the police. They tried to snatch weapons from the officials too, after which, the police, in self-defence, opened fire on them.