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A view of the Krishna Lanka Police Station, in Vijayawada, which has come under intense public and investigative scrutiny in connection with the alleged custodial death of Gade Sai Krishna. | Photo Credit: G.N. Rao

The story so far: Gade Sai Krishna (25), who allegedly had a criminal history, went ‘missing’ after he was picked up by the Krishnalanka police of the NTR Police Commissionerate from Markapuram in May. A habeas corpus petition filed by Sai Krishna’s mother, Vijaya Lakshmi, in the High Court more than three weeks after the youngster’s disappearance brought the issue to light, and the sequence of events that unfolded was no less than a crime thriller.

The Circle Inspector of the Krishnalanka police station was arrested on June 23 for alleged custodial torture of Sai Krishna, leading to his death, and for allegedly disposing of the body in a desperate attempt to destroy evidence of the crime. The formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and a political slugfest followed, bringing much disrepute to the police machinery and also the State government.

A team of police from the Krishnalanka police station, along with personnel of the NTR district Task Force, picked up Sai Krishna from Markapuram in May. He was brought to the Krishnalanka police station, where the Circle Inspector, S.S.V.V. Nagaraju, allegedly brutally tortured him for a couple of days in the name of questioning him in connection with old cases.

Sai Krishna’s mother, Vijaya Lakshmi, made rounds of the police station but was denied access to meet her son. On June 2, Vijaya Lakshmi filed a habeas corpus petition, and the court directed the police to produce the youngster by June 15. As the police failed to do so, the court subsequently directed them to produce Sai Krishna before it on June 29.

The issue that the police had allegedly managed to keep under wraps suddenly gained momentum with the Opposition YSR Congress Party raising its voice in support of Vijaya Lakshmi and targeting the police and the NDA government. The Opposition party maintained that the ‘Red Book’ Constitution that IT Minister Nara Lokesh had advocated and implemented had led to lawlessness, police high-handedness and bad governance in the State.

YSRCP president and former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy personally visited Vijaya Lakshmi at her house in Vijayawada and consoled her. Leading his party’s attack, Jagan Mohan Reddy demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged custodial torture and the disposal of Sai Krishna’s body. Jagan Mohan Reddy maintained that the suspension of a Circle Inspector was an eyewash and trained his guns on the Commissioner of Police, S.V. Rajasekhara Babu, and the Director General of Police (DGP), Harish Kumar Gupta, for allegedly shielding the accused police officer.

Employees at a nearby crematorium were also questioned about the disposal of any unknown or unidentified body by the police or other individuals.

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