Vijayawada: Seven people have been named in a murder and criminal conspiracy case registered by the CBI over the death of a 25-year-old who was taken into custody at Krishnalanka police station and, according to the investigation so far, never produced before a magistrate.
The case was registered on October 22, following an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court transferring the investigation to the central agency.
Those named are inspector Suda Suresh Veera Venkata Nagaraju; head constables Potarlanka Ashok Kumar, Janjam Nani and Goriparthi Sambaiah; constable Kaitepalli Babu Rao; home guard Koneti Venkata Raju; and a private individual, Gulivindala Suresh.
The CBI has re-registered the State police case under provisions covering murder, conspiracy, wrongful confinement, disappearance of evidence, theft and criminal breach of trust, along with sections of the Information Technology Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
According to the State SIT report reproduced in the High Court judgment, Gade Sai Krishna was apprehended at Markapuram around 3 a.m. on May 6 to execute pending warrants and handed over to Krishnalanka police around 7 a.m. He was neither produced before a magistrate nor released.
His mother, Vijaya Lakshmi, has alleged that the inspector threatened to kill him when she visited the station. The SIT cited a custody acknowledgement, photographs, lock-up reports and official WhatsApp messages recording his presence.
A registered medical practitioner who examined him on May 8 reported bruises and swelling. According to a disclosure by the accused Suresh reproduced in the SIT report, Sai Krishna died on May 12 after being shifted to an old building near Pentecost Church, and two of the accused allegedly moved the body on a two-wheeler before it was burnt at Swargapuri burial grounds.
The SIT also alleged that his phone and SIM were taken to Goa and activated after his reported death to make him appear alive and absconding, and that four station CCTV hard disks were replaced, two entrance cameras removed and dried blood-like stains painted over.
On October 16, Justices Ravi Nath Tilhari and Alapati Giridhar ordered a CBI investigation, Rs 25 lakh compensation to the mother and disciplinary proceedings against erring personnel, finding violations of Articles 21 and 22.
All of this is the prosecution's account. The accused have not been convicted, and the case is now before the CBI.