The hunt is still on by the police in Andhra Pradesh for the second accused in the gang-rape case on the Krishna river bank at Seethanagaram. One of the two men accused was nabbed recently. Both men before allegedly committing the sexual assault had also killed a man. The Guntur range Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Trivikram Varma on Monday told media that six police teams are hunting for Prasanna Reddy, the second accused. "Second accused Venkat Reddy is still absconding," Varma told IANS on Monday.
On June 19, around 8.30 pm two persons, Venkat Reddy and Seru Krishna Kishore overpowered a couple at Seethanagaram Pushkar Ghat in Tadepalli on the sandbanks of Krishna river. Reddy and Kishore allegedly threatened the couple with a razor blade that they would kill them and compelled the couple to disrobe. "They tied the couple with the clothes, raped the woman and later snatched their phones, including threatening to kill them if they reveal what happened," said a police official.
Before sexually assaulting the woman, the duo allegedly murdered a peanut seller who spotted them stealing copper wires from railway tracks. According to the police, Kishore ekes out a living doing ceiling works in house constructions and came in contact with Venkat Reddy, who does cupboard works. "Both of them used to go to work together and spend the money earned to fund their wayward lifestyle. But when there was no work, they took to stealing copper wires from railway tracks," said Varma.
"Fearing that the hawker would disclose the crime to police, they caught him and tied his hands and legs. Later, they fastened a noose on his neck with a copper wire and strangled him to death and dumped his body in the Krishna river," said the police officer.
After killing the hawker, the duo was consuming liquor on the sandbanks of the river, when they spotted the couple and proceeded to follow up the murder with gang rape. Sensing that the police came to the crime spot, Reddy and Krishna fled on a boat towards Vijayawada.
They reached Ranigari Thota and slept on the sandbank of the river that night. The next morning, the duo went to Tadepalli and gave the cell phones stolen from the couple to their friend Habib to sell. Police have also arrested Habib.
Fearing that the police would come after them, they ran away to Ongole and spent a day there and later separated their ways. From then on, Krishna roamed in Hubli in Karnataka and worked for a week at Nirmal, Telangana and another week in Bhainsa to work as a labourer.
Following this, he took a train to Secunderabad and lived by rag picking and stayed at a Saibaba temple near Secunderabad railway station. However, Kishore decided to see his mother and returned to Vijayawada by train and was walking by the tracks towards Tadepalli when the police caught him.
The police have formed six teams to nab the accused and managed to capture Kishore while Venkat Reddy is still on the run. The teams searched for them in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and several other states.