Disha case probe panel quizzes docs, forensic expert

HYDERABAD:  The three-member panel formed by the Supreme Court probing the alleged ‘encounter’ of the four accused involved in the Disha rape and murder case on Friday cross-examined medical professionals from Care Hospital and the assistant director of the ballistics department in the Telangana State Forensic Science Laboratory (TSFSL), Hyderabad.

Doctors at Care Hospital, Gachibowli, treated two policemen injured in the alleged shootout on December 6, 2019.  constable Arvind Goud and station in-charge Venkateswarlu of the Nandigama police station. They were allegedly shot at by two of the four accused involved in the Disha case. 

After Dr Vishwak Sena Reddy of Care Hospital, the panel questioned Dr Rakesh Racha, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the hospital. The panel expressed anguish over errors in the charts, timeline and tallying of events. “I agree that the errors in the chart will reduce my credibility as a witness,” Dr Racha told the panel after they cross-examined him and found discrepancies in his statements. 

Dr Racha told the panel that constable Arvind Goud was admitted to the ICU because of a hairline fracture and that the fracture could be caused due to an injury caused by a blunt object or a fall. However, when the panel asked him if he had ever admitted any other patient to an ICU in a similar situation, he said that he had not. He then told the panel that the constable was referred to the ICU by an ER consultant, Dr Shiva Kumar.  

The difference in testimonies were also noticed when the panel pulled up a statement given to the NHRC by Dr Racha, wherein he said that the patient had a brief moment of unconsciousness but told the panel on Friday that the constable was never unconscious. 

After 55 questions, Dr Racha was asked to leave and the commission then pulled up Dr V. Venkateswarulu, the assistant director of the ballistics department at the TSFSL. The panel questioned him about the gunshot residue (GSR) found on the hands of the two accused who allegedly fired on the Cyberabad police.

He stated that he used X-ray fluorescence and other chemicals to test the GSR on the weapons and the cotton swabs. The questioning was stopped at 4.30 pm when the panel adjourned the hearing and will continue the cross-examination on Monday. The panel will question V.C. Sajjanar, the then police commissioner of Cyberabad, on October 11.