Top

Warangal fire mishap: Rajaiah and family quizzed again on second day

Police also took material including burnt objects from the scene of crime

Warangal: The questioning of former Congress MP Sircilla Rajaiah, his wife and their son continued for the second day on Thursday in connection with the mysterious death of his daughter-in-law and three grandsons, whose charred bodies were found at his residence here.

"Rajaiah and two others were brought by police from their house for examination (questioning)... It is continuing," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Hanamkonda Sub-Division) Shoban Kumar said over phone.

Police also took many material including burnt objects from the scene of crime including food from the house, which will be sent to Forensic Science Laboratory and other departments for analysis, the ACP said.

The post-mortem on the bodies of Rajaiah's daughter-in-law S Sarika and three grandsons-seven-year-old Abhinav, and twins Ayaan and Shriyaan, aged three is now underway, the senior police officer said.

Charred bodies of Sarika and her three children, who died on the spot due to burn injuries were recovered on Wednesday.

Warangal City Police Commissioner G Sudheer Babu said Rajaiah, his wife Madhavi and son Anil Kumar--were among those inside their house when the incident happened on the first floor of the two-storey building at Hanamkonda.

The police have registered a case of abetment to suicide against Rajaiah, his wife and son, but said they had not made any arrest so far in connection with the incident but took them to a police station in Warangal for examining them.

Following a complaint by Sarika's parents, a case was registered against Rajaiah, his wife Madhavi and son Anil Kumar at Subedari police station under sections 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 306 (abetment to suicide) of IPC, and under section 174 (suspicious death) of CrPC for the death of three boys.

Following the incident, 62-year-old Rajaiah, who was nominated by the Congress as its candidate for the Warangal Lok Sabha by-election slated for November 21, was replaced by former Union Minister Sarve Satyanarayana as the party's candidate.

Sudheer Babu had earlier said, "We are waiting for FSL report. Once FSL and post-mortem reports comes then we will have a clarity on how the deaths occurred."

In April 2014, a criminal case had been filed against Rajaiah, Madhavi, Anil Kumar and another woman at the Begumpet women's police station here, following a complaint lodged by Sarika alleging that her husband and in-laws were harassing her.

Sarika, who had quit her job as a software engineer in a multinational company, had also alleged that her husband was having an extra-marital affair. Sarika had then also staged a sit-in protest outside Rajaiah's house.

Sarika's mother and sister yesterday alleged in their native Nizamabad district that her in-laws "tortured and killed her".

"My sister cannot commit suicide... she was tortured and killed," Sarika's sister alleged.

( Source : PTI )
Next Story