Andhra HC Defers Hearing in Sai Krishna Custodial Death Case
State tells court main accused CI arrested; SIT continues probe into alleged torture and disappearance
- Andhra Pradesh High Court adjourned the PIL seeking a CBI probe to July 6.
- State informed the court that suspended Circle Inspector SSVV Nagaraju has been arrested.
- SIT suspects Sai Krishna was illegally detained, tortured and died in police custody.
- Investigators are probing alleged destruction of evidence and the disappearance of the victim’s body.
GG News Bureau
Amaravati, 24th June: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday adjourned to July 6 the hearing on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged custodial death and disappearance of 25-year-old Gade Sai Krishna, while the state government informed the court that the main accused in the case had been arrested.
Appearing before a division bench, Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas said a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) M. Ravi Prakash, was actively investigating the case. He informed the court that suspended Circle Inspector SSVV Nagaraju, who was serving as Station House Officer of Krishnalanka Police Station at the time of the incident, had been arrested and would be produced before a magistrate.
The PIL was filed by Sai Krishna’s mother, Gade Vijayalakshmi, who alleged that her son was picked up by police near Markapuram during the first week of May and taken to Krishnalanka Police Station in Vijayawada.
According to police records, Sai Krishna had pending non-bailable warrants in two earlier cases. However, his family alleged that they were denied information about his whereabouts and were threatened when they approached the police station. Vijayalakshmi claimed she later saw her son inside the lock-up with visible injuries.
The SIT’s investigation has so far indicated that Sai Krishna may have been illegally confined, subjected to custodial torture and died between May 6 and May 8.
The case gained significant public attention after Sai Krishna’s family met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, following which the state government constituted the SIT to investigate the allegations.
According to the remand report of the arrested officer, Sai Krishna was allegedly not produced before a magistrate within the legally mandated 24-hour period after being taken into custody. The report also cites witness statements placing him inside the police station during the period under investigation.
In a major development, forensic experts reportedly found no CCTV footage in the police station’s DVR system between May 1 and June 1, covering the period of the alleged illegal detention. Investigators suspect evidence may have been destroyed after Sai Krishna’s death and that his body was disposed of to conceal the crime.
Police have registered a case under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to wrongful confinement, murder and destruction of evidence.
The SIT is continuing its efforts to trace Sai Krishna’s body and reconstruct the sequence of events as the investigation progresses under judicial scrutiny.
