Anantapur: A tense situation prevailed at Vajrakarur Police Station on Monday, after a man was found hanging from a tree a few metres away from the police station. According to family members of the deceased, E. Vannesh, 32 from Vidapanakal had been engaged as a farm labourer three days ago, to work at a chili garden in Dharmapuri village of Vajrakarur mandal. A farmer from Dharmapuri had lodged a complaint against Vannesh, Giribabu and Veeresh, accusing them of stealing sheep from his herd.
Soon after, Vannesh was found dead under suspicious circumstances. He had allegedly been detained for two days, and the police had attempted to grill him about his role in the sheep theft.
When his body was discovered, family members and villagers rushed to the police station and pelted stones at the police, accusing them of killing Vannesh during the interrogation. The deceased’s wife, Sunkamma, alleged that the police were cooking up a story to cover up the fact that they had killing her husband in the lockup.
Sub-inspector Janardhana Naidu approached the Guntakal sub-division office, and Guntakal DSP Ravikumar rushed to the Vajrakarur Police Station. They tried to convince family members that Vannesh had committed suicide. “We released him on Sunday, after questioning him in connection with the theft case”, the DSP said.
