The Vijayawada police may soon hand over the investigation of the 2007 Ayesha Meera murder case to the CBI, as parents of the victim have demanded a fresh probe into the crime.
Addressing a press conference in Vijayawada, DGP N Sambasiva Rao told media persons that they were willing to hand over the case to any agency, to investigate the murder.
“We are definitely looking for an opportunity to hand over the case to the CBI. We want the parents [Ayesha Meera’s] to be happy. We really feel sorry that the girl is not there. Basically to satisfy everyone, we have decided to go for reinvestigation,” Rao was quoted as saying.
Rao also said that the case was referred to an apex committee to identify any police officers who could be held responsible, for framing Satyam Babu in the case.
Satyam Babu was sent to jail for eight years for the crime, until the Hyderabad High Court recently acquitted him, and set him free.
Ayesha Meera was a first-year pharmacy student and was living in a ladies hostel at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada. Her blood-stained body was found in December 2007 in the hostel’s bathroom with multiple stab injuries. A year after her death, the police arrested Satyam Babu in a cell phone robbery case. The police, however, claimed that he had confessed to the murder during interrogation.
Satyam Babu was convicted by a Vijayawada women's special sessions court in 2010, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.
Throughout the trial, Ayesha Meera’s parents maintained that Satyam was innocent, and was being framed for their daughter's death.
Earlier this month, Ayesha's parents met Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and demanded a fresh probe into the crime.
When the case first broke out, Naidu, who was then the state's Opposition leader, had demanded a fair enquiry into the incident.
Naidu was also among those who alleged that the YS Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress government was covering up the case to protect influential politicians.
Ayesha’s parents had alleged that former Congress Minister Koneru Ranga Rao's grandson, Koneru Satish, frequently visited the hostel along with other relatives, including Koneru Suresh, Abburi Ganesh, Chinita Pawankumar and Rakesh.
They also alleged that the warden, Koneru Padma, allowed them to enter the girls' hostel as they were relatives.
The parents held these people squarely responsible for their daughter's death.
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