Two suspects in the recent gang rape and murder of a Hyderabad woman veterinarian, now known as Disha, confessed to nine similar crimes while in police custody, Telangana Police sources with knowledge of the investigation said.
Lorry workers Mohammed Arif, 26, and Chintakunta Chennakesavulu, 20, were among the four suspects killed this month in what the police said was an encounter. Widespread support for the police action sparked a national debate on the criminal justice system.
Police sources said Arif and Chennakesavulu confessed to raping, murdering and burning three other victims in three different Telangana districts: Ranga Reddy, Sangareddy and Mahbubunagar. Six other crimes were committed in Karnataka districts bordering Telangana, the sources said. The suspects used to carry goods from Karnataka to Hyderabad.
They were carrying bricks from Gangavathi in Karnataka's Koppal district to Hyderabad when Arif saw Disha at a toll plaza. That's when he, Chennakesavulu and two other lorry workers -- Jollu Shiva, 20, and Jollu Naveen, 20 -- raped and killed her.
PROBE WIDENS
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Investigators now believe Arif and Chennakesavulu were involved in as many as 15 cases. They're now looking into all cases in which charred bodies of women were found near highways. (Disha's burned body was found under a culvert.)
A Cyberabad Police team has been sent to Raichur, Kalaburagi and Koppal districts of Karnataka. The police will corroborate the suspects' confessions with their mobile locations where similar cases were reported.