An advocate was murdered in broad daylight in Hyderabad on Monday, March 24. The advocate, identified as Errababu Esrayal, was stabbed to death on the street near his house, allegedly by an electrician named Dasthagiri, who held a grudge against him.
Esrayal was rushed to a private hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. On the way to the hospital, Esrayal told his daughter, Drakshavalli, that Dasthagiri had stabbed him, she said. The incident occurred in the New Maruti Nagar colony in the Santosh Nagar area.
Esrayal’s daughter alleged that Dasthagiri, an electrician, murdered him. On the morning of March 24, when she opened her door to talk to a neighbor, she found her father lying on the street nearby with bleeding injuries.
According to the FIR registered based on her complaint, Dasthagiri worked as an electrician and often visited a flat owned by Esrayal for work. The building had a watchman whose wife was purportedly in a relationship with Dasthagiri. After this relationship came to light, the couple moved away in December 2024.
Over the past month, Dasthagiri began to believe that Esrayal knew the woman’s whereabouts and was deliberately keeping her away from him. He insisted that the lawyer bring her back to Hyderabad, the complaint stated.
It also mentioned that Dasthagiri repeatedly asked Esrayal to help him secure bail if he murdered the woman’s husband, but the advocate tried to dissuade him from such thoughts.
According to Esrayal’s daughter, Dasthagiri would often argue with the lawyer, demanding that he reveal the woman’s whereabouts, and held a grudge against him. He began tracking Esrayal’s movements between his home and office, and Esrayal even told his family that he feared Dasthagiri might kill him, she said in her complaint.
Condemning Esrayal’s murder, lawyers at the Rangareddy district court boycotted their duties. Raising slogans of “We want justice,” the protesting lawyers squatted on the road in LB Nagar and demanded stringent punishment for the accused.
The lawyers also called on the state government to pass legislation for the protection of lawyers. They further declared that none of them would appear in court on behalf of Dasthagiri.
(With IANS inputs)