some justice in this world after all

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In a new turn in the case involving acid attack on two engineering girl students, police have shot dead the three accused boys, claiming the police party was attacked by them. The main suspect Srinivas and accomplice Sanjay and Harikrishna were shot dead when they allegedly attacked the police party which went to recover a motor cycle used by them in the incident at Mavunoor last night, district Superintendent of Police Sajjanar said. The police action comes in the wake of a huge public outcry over the acid attack in which the faces of the two girls were disfigured and they were in a critical condition. Two police officials were suspended yesterday for failing to act promptly on a complaint by the father of one of the girls who is battling for life after being subjected to acid attack by a jilted lover in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. "They (accused) tried to spray the acid and the weapons and the knives. And so our people reacted and the three accused were killed. Definitely they had criminal intention to harm us," said Sajjanar. On Friday (December 12), Home Minister K Jana Reddy was gheraoed by angry activists of women organisations when he visited the private hospital where Swapnika, a final year B.Tech student and her friend are undergoing treatment. Swapnika and Pranitha were injured when Srinivas threw acid while they were going home on a bike last Wednesday. Meanwhile, the police action immediately attracted adverse comments with a civil rights lawyer questioning the gunning down of the accused. "It is spine-chilling. A system that loses faith in the judicial system and in the rule of law is complete anarchy. We are heading towards chaos," said civil rights lawyer L Ravichander. Referring to a media headline which said justice had been done, she said, "Do they understand what kind of lack of safety they are heading towards when they permit the police to decide to become justice administrators?" The police action comes in the wake of a huge public outcry over an acid attack on two engineering girl students on Wednesday. However, the girls' relatives endorsed the police action saying it would serve as a deterrent for the potential criminals in future. "We feel justice has been done. The attackers did not deserve to live," Swapnika's father Devender Rao, an ex-serviceman, said. "This will save many other girls who could have become their target," her mother Subhashini said. "God is great. The attackers deserved death penalty," Pranitha said. On the other hand, the family members of the slain suspects strongly protested against the police action and said they had been shot dead in fake encounter without conducting proper investigation. "If my son has committed a sin, he should have been punished by the courts. But, the police came under political pressure and staged a fake encounter," the mother of Harikrishna said. The TDP, Left parties and Lok Satta condemned the police action saying the policemen should not be allowed to take law into their hands and hand out instant justice in such cases. Fast Track courts should be set up to try such cases instead of police taking law into their own hands, former TDP minister K Srihari said. Revolutionary Balladeer Gadar demanded an inquiry by sitting High Court judge into the alleged encounter. The President of Human Rights Forum (HRF), Dr Balagopal, said such killings would set a bad precedent and result in public losing faith in the judicial system. Facing mounting criticism, Home Minister K Jana Reddy said Director General of Police S S P Yadav has been asked to submit a report on the encounter and action would be taken based on it. "I have asked the DGP to inquire into the circumstances that led to the encounter and whether it was done as per the law or not," the minister said. The youths were produced before the media here last evening. Police said Srinivas had confessed during interrogation that he bore a grudge against Swapnika as she refused to reciprocate his love and was seeing another boy, adding, he planned the attack with two friends to disfigure Swapnika so that no one would be attracted to her.