Hyderabad Encounter: Maneka Gandhi Slams Cops, Says 'You Can't Kill People Because You Want To'

Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Maneka Gandhi slammed the Hyderabad Police for the encounter of all accused in vet’s rape and murder case. “Very dangerous thing to have happened. Those people were in any case going to get hanging as punishment for the heinousness of their crime. But you cannot kill people because you want to," Gandhi said. “You cannot take law in your hands, they (accused) would have been hanged by the court anyhow,” Gandhi further said. Gandhi is not the only political leader, who voiced the concern over the shocking, early encounter.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that, “It is something to be worried about, the way people have lost their faith in the criminal justice system. Together all the governments will have to take action on how to strengthen criminal justice system.”

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also cautioned against extra-judicial killings. “We need to know more, for instance if the criminals were armed, the police may have been justified in opening fire preemptively. Until details emerge we should not rush to condemn. But extra-judicial killings are otherwise unacceptable in a society of laws,” the Congress leader said in a tweet.

From city streets to Parliament, the brutal gangrape and murder had seen widespread protests across India. Leaders across party lines had condemned the crime. However, there was growing discontent among the people over the lack of stringent policing. It is said that the team of the Hyderabad Police investigating the gruesome gangrape and murder of the veterinary doctor were stunned at the ‘meticulous’, ‘cold-hearted’ planning by the four accused.

The police say that the accused had shown no remorse after the arrest. All four accused had confessed to the crime. Disturbing details had emerged from the police probe that showed the extent to which the four accused went to make sure that there was no trace of their crime. The investigation show that the accused decided the disturbing, spine-chilling crime the moment they saw the doctor parking her red scooter near toll plaza.