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Suspended Circle Inspector G Nagaraju, who is accused of the alleged custodial killing of a man named Gade Sai Krishna, was arrested in Vijayawada on June 23, Tuesday. Nagaraju was earlier booked for the alleged wrongful confinement and murder of Sai Krishna (25), whose family has alleged that he was tortured to death in police custody.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Andhra Pradesh Police is investigating the alleged custodial death of Sai Krishna, who was allegedly picked up by Vijayawada police from Markapuram on May 9 and has been missing since then. Sai Krishna had been accused in several criminal cases registered at the Krishnalanka police station.
Nagaraju is also accused of harassing a Dalit man named Perupogu Kranthi Kumar, who died by suicide in May after recording a statement stating that he could no longer bear the alleged harassment by the police officer.
Based on a complaint by Gade Vijaya Lakshmi, Sai Krishna’s mother, a case of wrongful confinement, murder and causing disappearance of evidence was registered against Nagaraju, who was already suspended over the allegations.
Inspector General (Law and Order) M Ravi Prakash is heading the SIT. The other members are West Godavari Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi, Alluri Sitharamaraju SP Amit Bardar, and Bapatla district Additional SP L Sudhakar, who has been named as the investigation officer.
Vijaya Lakshmi alleged that her son was tortured and beaten to death in custody. She filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court, which directed the Krishna Lanka police to produce the victim before it on June 15. As the police could not produce Sai Krishna, the High Court directed the police to produce him by June 29.
Following allegations by Sai Krishna’s mother that the police official cremated him after beating him to death, the investigation team collected the records at a crematorium in Krishna Lanka. The investigating officials have collected details of all unclaimed bodies cremated between May 23 and May 26.
Last week, the Second Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate court directed the police to preserve the CCTV footage of the Krishnalanka police station from May 1 to June 1. The court also directed the police to produce the call data records (CDRs) of the mobile phones of Sai Krishna and his mother for the same period, to establish their locations.
