TTD Foreign Currency Theft Case: Inspector Was Murdered, Concludes Police
A day-long investigation including collection of opinions from forensic experts and reconstruction of the scene has prompted the police to conclude that Sathish Kumar, the former AV&SO of Tirumala who was now functioning as inspector in railways, was murdered.
ANANTAPUR: A day-long investigation including collection of opinions from forensic experts and reconstruction of the scene has prompted the police to conclude that Sathish Kumar, the former AV&SO of Tirumala who was now functioning as inspector in railways, was murdered.
Sathish Kumar’s body was found closer to two railway tracks near Komali in Tadipathri area in Anantapur on Friday. There was no clarity as to how he died. He was having tense times after he reported a theft of foreign currency from a TTD facility.
This incident took a political turn after YSRC leaders blamed the CID, saying it mounted pressure on the inspector to make a confession. Hence, he committed suicide by jumping from a running train, it was alleged.
His family members blamed the officials and the TTD board.
The investigation into the death was led by CID DGP Ravishankar Ayyannar and his team came to the conclusion this was a murder.
Highly placed police sources told Deccan Chronicle that the investigation confirmed the murder of the inspector who was working in the Guntakal division of the railways.
Sathish Kumar was officially the complainant in the Parakamani currency theft case. The case was compromised in the Lok Adalat one and a half years ago, but a fresh investigation was started following high court directions.
As the CID was probing the case, the former security officer was about to attend the inquiry before the CID team on Friday. He started his journey from Guntakal on Thursday night.
According to the CCTV footage at Guntakal railway station, Sathish Kumar came on his motorcycle, parked the vehicle and entered the station around 11.53pm. However, the Rayalaseema Express was delayed by more than half an hour.
Kumar’s body was found near Komali in Tadipathri area about 71km from Guntakal at around 3am.
The railway staff noticed the unidentified body at around 10.30am on Friday, and his identity was established after they noticed the ID card that the inspector had carried with him.
As part of post mortem, a CT scan was conducted on the skull of body at Anantapur GGH. CID DGP Ayyanar held a review meeting with the Anantapur DIG, SP, the Guntakal railway team and the team of doctors from Anantapur GGH at the police guest house on Saturday.
Later, he inspected the spot near Komali and reconstructed the scene by throwing a doll similar to the weight and height of the inspector from the running train from multiple angles. As the body was found more than 50 metres away from the railway track, the reconstruction scene was found very low.
The doctors reportedly informed the cops about the “serious injuries of attack” on the head region while no injuries were found on other parts of the body.
A senior official observed, “ We came to the conclusion that this was a clear murder and we need to proceed with the investigation from this angle only.”
About 10 teams were on investigation to crack the case. They were verifying the list of passengers who travelled in A1 coach. “We suspect the accused probably entered the train through an unreserved bogi and later got into A 1 coach. The lights were switched off at around 3am and the passengers were in deep sleep,” sources observed.
The Guntakal railway police transferred the case to the Tadipathri civil police for further investigation.
The last rites were conducted for Sathish Kumar at Pathikonda in Kurnool district on Saturday.