To neatly hide the custodial death and close the case without further scrutiny, the police fabricated an elaborate encounter story, the factfinders said.
Published Oct 31, 2025 | 5:20 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 31, 2025 | 8:10 PM
Police said they opened fire at Shaik Riyaz after he had snatched a firearm from an armed guard in an attempt to escape.
Synopsis: The probe by the fact-finding team, comprising social and civil rights activists K Khalida Parveen, Sarah Mathews, Majid Shuttari, Advocate Sameer Ali, Mohammad Abdul Taj, and Shaikh Sikandar, revealed shocking details, which warrant a detailed investigation.
An independent fact-finding team of advocates, citizens and concerned residents has demanded a CBI probe into the death of Shaik Riyaz, 28, who was reportedly killed in a police shooting on 20 October.
It also sought a court-monitored probe by a special investigation team, pending the investigation by the central probe agency.
The factfinders claimed that Riyaz — accused of murdering a police constable on 17 October — was shot dead in a “staged encounter” in police custody, before shifting the body to the Government General Hospital in Nizamabad. Police said they opened fire when the man snatched a firearm from a constable and tried to escape from the hospital, where he had been admitted for medical treatment.
Riyaz’s family, too, alleged that he was killed in a staged encounter. His mother, wife and two children, aged 7 and 6, met Telangana’s police chief Shivadhar Reddy on 27 October, and sought an independent investigation.
The probe by the fact-finding team, comprising social and civil rights activists K Khalida Parveen, Sarah Mathews, Majid Shuttari, Advocate Sameer Ali, Mohammad Abdul Taj, and Shaikh Sikandar, revealed shocking details, which warrant a detailed investigation.
Contrary to the police version that Riyaz was a history-sheeter, the factfinders, who visited his residence at Mohammadiya Colony in Nizamabad, said he was a recovery agent, working for multiple Non-Banking Financial Companies, dealing in two-wheeler loans.
“While his formal registration status with these companies needs confirmation through a proper investigation, like one by the CBI, his job involved recovering vehicles from people who defaulted on their loans in Nizamabad and the surrounding areas,” the fact-finding team reported.
On police records, he was mentioned as an autorickshaw driver. The factfinders said the police left out any reference to Riyaz’s legitimate profession, but framed him as a “hardcore villain” and “rowdy sheeter” to “rationalise everything that followed”.
Constable E Pramod Kumar.
The team also noted that Riyaz had not committed any grave offences, but faced “minor and ordinary cases”, mostly “civil disputes that were twisted into criminal complaints by defaulters trying to avoid repayment”.
The factfinders also questioned the police version that Riyaz had killed Constable E Pramod Kumar. It was earlier said that Riyaz fatally stabbed Pramod and injured the constable’s nephew while being taken to a police station on a two-wheeler. Police had said that Riyaz was sandwiched on the scooter between the constable and his nephew when he whipped out a knife and stabbed them.
The independent fact-finding mission found that an off-duty Pramod and Riyaz had met at a secret location, not Ahmadpura Colony as claimed by the police. While the men were discussing a bribe, they were ambushed by one Asif and a few other unidentified men.
“Riyaz managed to escape the attack, but Pramod was killed either by mistake or deliberately to silence him as a witness to the racket. The killers struck Pramod hard with a sharp metal object, based on the wound patterns we analysed from descriptions,” the team reported.
The report further said that the assailants later left Pramod’s body on Vinayak Nagar road, where the police found it.
“Eyewitnesses who observed the body being dumped are refusing to come forward and depose because of their deep apprehension of police reprisals and how the judiciary might handle the case, which parallels the police’s own deficiencies in gathering and presenting evidence,” the report said.
The team questioned the police version that Riyaz had fatally stabbed the constable riding the two-wheeler. Their report noted that the constable’s nephew had suffered a stab injury on his left thigh, while Riyaz was right-handed.
Riyaz had seized Asif’s scooter, where he found counterfeit currencies to the tune of ₹3 lakh. Riyaz converted ₹2 lakh into legitimate currency by borrowing small amounts from acquaintances and repaying them with the fake notes. With the legitimate money, he bought a Suzuki Burgman scooter, which the police have yet to find.
However, Asif soon caught up with Riyaz and demanded the vehicle and the counterfeits back.
“Asif, a central figure in what we were told about the nexus, used this situation as leverage to pressure Riyaz. Initially, Riyaz denied the claim, but under severe threats of death or harassment to himself and his family, he promised to repay—though by then, he had already spent the converted ₹2 lakh,” the report said.
Here is when Constable Pramod came in. The report said that a desperate Riyaz contacted the constable attached to the Central Crime Station.
“Pramod, while generally appearing law-abiding like many officers who might engage in routine bribe-taking, was deeply entangled in this nexus as a mediator between parties,” the report said.
Asif, meanwhile, is undergoing treatment in a hospital.
Pramod reportedly took Riyaz to his senior officer, who demanded the remaining unconverted ₹1 lakh. However, Riyaz had by then spent it too. The police then used Riyaz as bait to expose Asif’s counterfeit racket. However, Asif escaped but turned his anger on “informer” Riyaz.
The police demanded a “protection money” of ₹3 lakh, which was later reduced to ₹1 lakh. The money was demanded by promising protection from Asif’s gang. The report noted the police demand as a “classic case of extortion”.
After Pramod’s murder, the police cast their net to nab Riyaz. They allegedly harassed Riyaz’s elderly mother, wife and children. “The police detained Riyaz’s mother, wife, daughter, and son, subjecting the women to brutal sexual torture and all family members to third-degree methods in an attempt to extract Riyaz’s location,” the report said.
It was said that Asif found Riyaz and informed the police. The police alleged that Riyaz stabbed Asif, too, in a bid to escape capture.
“In a bizarre and revealing twist, Asif—the heart of the counterfeit racket and the original complainant — has been nominated by the police for a gallantry award… It appears to be a contrived move to paint Asif as a ‘hero’ who ‘assisted’ in Riyaz’s capture on 19 October 2025,” the report said, quoting confidential inputs.
“To hide the custodial death and neatly close the case without further scrutiny, the police fabricated an elaborate encounter story, according to local accounts shared in confidence,” the report alleged.
Six demands raised by the fact-finding team.
The factfinders said that they were told that Riyaz was captured from a hideout in a truck, “which is highly implausible for someone labelled a ‘fugitive’ within city limits. The truck they described is completely damaged, with only the front cabin intact, a space too small even for a dog to occupy comfortably.”
The team also questioned the police version that Riyaz was shot dead in the hospital. “…but after torturing Riyaz to death in custody, the police took his lifeless body to Government General Hospital in Nizamabad and placed it in a room with a solid iron door. Why wasn’t he taken to the emergency ward if he was supposedly alive? And why take him to the hospital at all for what they called “minor scratches” if he was such a top-notch criminal?” the report questioned.
“The very next day, top police officers travelled from Nizamabad to Hyderabad to check on Asif’s health, using public taxpayer money for what appears to be pure drama. The identity of the top official who made this visit remains unclear, but combined with the Director General of Police’s involvement, it highlights the orchestrated effort to glorify Asif while burying the nexus. The police also elevated Pramod to “hero and warrior” status, despite his off-duty involvement in the nexus and his role as a mediator with Riyaz,” the report further stated.
Besides a CBI probe, the fact-finding team also raised five other demands, including a compensation of ₹5 crore for Riyaz’s family, a government job for his wife, and ensuring education for his children.
