Vijayawada man Sai Krishna beaten to death in police custody, cremated same night: SIT

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Andhra Pradesh police probing the mysterious disappearance of 25-year-old Gade Sai Krishna in Vijayawada in May, has confirmed that he was beaten to death by the Krishnalanka police at an abandoned building on May 12, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

After confirming that Sai Krishna had died, the police clandestinely took his body to the Swargapuri crematorium near the Krishnalanka police station and cremated it the same night, the SIT authorities told a local court in Vijayawada on Friday.

The SIT officials identified the cement platform No. 16 in the crematorium as the spot where the cremation had taken place. “We collected ash and bone remains from the site for further examination,” the SIT informed the court.

The SIT, headed by inspector general of police M Ravi Prakash and comprised West Godavari superintendent of police Adnan Naveen Asmi, Alluri Sitarama Raju SP Amit Bardar and Bapatla additional SP L Sudhakar as members, was constituted on June 21, after the missing of Sai Krishna triggered a state-wide outrage.

On June 23, the SIT arrested Krishnalanka inspector of police SSV Nagaraju and on June 29, two head constables, Potharlanka Ashok Kumar and Jangam Nani, surrendered before the SIT authorities. All the three were suspended pending investigation.

On Friday, the SIT produced the fourth accused Gulivundala Suresh, a close associate of Nagaraju, before the Second Additional Judicial Magistrate Court, Vijayawada.

The SIT charged Suresh, a real estate broker, with helping Nagaraju and the head constables in shifting Sai Krishna’s body to the crematorium and later bringing pressure on the deceased’s family members to withdraw the complaint as part of a compromise formula.

In the remand report presented before the court, which was reviewed by HT, Nagaraju and the two head constables confined Sai Krishna and subjected him to torture in an abandoned building at Ranigarithota, near the Varadhi area of Vijayawada.

The remand report stated that Suresh had allegedly witnessed Sai Krishna being questioned at the Krishnalanka police station on May 7 by then inspector Nagaraju and head constables Ashok and Nani. Suresh subsequently travelled to Nepal with his friends and returned to Vijayawada on May 11.

“On May 12 at around 10.30 am, Suresh went to the police station to meet Nagaraju. He was allegedly taken by Ashok Kumar to an abandoned building at Ranigarithota, where he found Sai Krishna in a severely weakened condition. The deceased told Suresh that he had been beaten every day since being brought to the building with the intention of killing him,” the SIT said.

Subsequently, Sai Krishna reportedly collapsed and became unconscious and on checking his pulse, the police realised that he had died. “On the night of May 12, the two head constables shifted the body to the crematorium on a motor bike, while Suresh accompanied them. They remained at the crematorium until the body was completely burnt,” the SIT report said.

After Sai Krishna’s family filed a habeas corpus petition in the Andhra Pradesh high court in June, Suresh acting on behalf of Nagaraju, allegedly approached Sai Krishna’s maternal uncle Navarang and pressured him to withdraw the petition.

“After Nagaraju was arrested and two head constables surrendered, Suresh went absconding and on the advice of his lawyers, he surrendered to the SIT on Thursday evening,” the report added.