Saikrishna Case: Arrested Constables Evasive During SIT Questioning, Phones Missing
The two suspended constables, who had been missing since the arrest of Circle Inspector S.S.V.V. Nagaraju, surrendered on Monday after being traced to Nagpur.
Vijayawada: Head constables J. Nani and Potharlanka Ashok Kumar, arrested in connection with the alleged custodial death of Gade Saikrishna, have been giving evasive answers during questioning by the Special Investigation Team, police said.
The two suspended constables, who had been missing since the arrest of Circle Inspector S.S.V.V. Nagaraju, surrendered on Monday after being traced to Nagpur.
According to reports, both the constables remained silent when asked who escorted Saikrishna to Vijayawada, how he was handled at the Krishnalanka Police Station, and the circumstances of his subsequent disappearance. When the SIT asked them to hand over their mobile phones, the duo claimed they had sold them to unidentified persons in Nagpur due to financial distress. Police said the phones are crucial to tracing what happened to Saikrishna’s body after he went missing from the station.
The SIT, headed by Inspector General M. Ravi Prakash and comprising officers Adnan Nayeem Asmi, Amit Bardar and L. Sudhakar, is piecing together the sequence of events from Saikrishna’s detention in Markapuram on May 5 to his arrival at Krishnalanka Police Station the next day and his disappearance from custody.
Investigators said Saikrishna was brought from Markapuram by Task Force SI Naveen, constables Muralikrishna Kumar, Bosta Rambabu, and Krishnalanka constable Babu Rao. Saikrishna’s mobile tower location was last traced to Vadde Bazar, Markapuram, at 7:39 PM on May 5. Constable Babu Rao’s location was also traced to Markapuram at 3:53 AM on May 6.
The remand report stated that all the accused named in the FIR conspired in the alleged custodial death of Saikrishna and the subsequent destruction of evidence. Further detailed interrogation is required to extract more information. The constables were produced before the Vijayawada court, and as per the directions of the court, the two accused constables have been shifted to separate prisons.
In another development, SIT officials have arrested two more police personnel on Wednesday. Constables Babu Rao and Sambaiah, named as accused in the case, were taken into custody. After conducting medical examinations, officials produced them before the district court. The court remanded both constables to 14 days of judicial custody and ordered that they be shifted to Avanigadda jail. The investigation into Saikrishna’s alleged custodial death is ongoing.
