Follow TNM’s WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Andhra Pradesh government has approached the Supreme Court seeking relaxation of conditions imposed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court while granting custody of Circle Inspector (CI) Nagaraju, the prime accused in the alleged custodial torture and murder of 25-year-old Gade Sai Krishna.
Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had allowed the SIT to take Nagaraju out of the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison for questioning after investigators argued that they could not effectively investigate the case or locate Sai Krishna’s body without taking the accused to the alleged crime scene in Vijayawada.
While granting custody, the High Court imposed several conditions. It directed the SIT to videograph every movement of Nagaraju during his transit from Rajamahendravaram to Vijayawada and back, and to submit the unedited footage before the jurisdictional magistrate by July 17.
The court also directed prison authorities to preserve all CCTV footage recorded within the Rajamahendravaram Central Prison and submit it to the magistrate.
Nagaraju, 53, the former Station House Officer of Krishna Lanka Police Station in Vijayawada, is accused of illegally detaining, torturing and murdering Sai Krishna.
Sai Krishna was apprehended in Markapur on May 6 at Nagaraju’s direction. However, he was allegedly never produced before a magistrate, and his whereabouts remained unknown thereafter.
Following widespread outrage over the alleged custodial death, the Andhra Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe the case.
