Supreme Court panel finds erroneous replies' to media by ex-top cop
As many as four erroneous replies were noticed by the panel, including him stating to the media that safety latch on the gun was turned off
HYDERABAD: The panel formed by the Supreme Court to probe the death of four accused in the Disha case found four 'erroneous replies' given by V.C. Sajjanar, then commissioner of Cyberabad police, during the press conference held at Chatanpally on December 6, 2019, at 3 pm.
The panel on Tuesday played two clips of the press meet, both in Telugu and English, where Sajjanar was present, before cross-examining him on his replies to the commission.
As many as four erroneous replies were noticed by the panel, including him stating to the media that the safety latch on the gun was turned off, whereas he told the commission that he did not mention the safety latch at all. Upon being asked about the same, the official said initially that he did not speak Telugu well and that some answers to the media might have been miscommunicated.
The panel then played the English version of the same press conference, during which it was noticed that he stated that the safety latches were off. "There was a lot of rush and crowd during the press meet," was Sajjanar’s explanation for the errors in the English press briefing.
The panel asked him what was the need to hold press meets in four languages (Hindi, English, Telugu and Kannada), while the teams were still inspecting the crime scene about 200-300 metres away. Sajjanar responded that the media had waited for a long time and that they requested him to brief them in other languages.
As he mentioned to the panel that the whole press meet was an impromptu one, he was asked how they managed to get the chairs, tables and other things needed to hold a press meet at a village in a remote place away from the city. "The Shadnagar police, upon the request of Shamshabad DCP N. Prakash Reddy, provided the things needed to hold a press meet," he said.
When the commission asked him though as an IPS official who had been in Telangana (and erstwhile Andhra Pradesh) for 20 years, when did he pass a test in the regional language (Telugu), he said, "It was in 2000 I think. But as I have been speaking more in Hindi, my Telugu is not that good."