SIT confirms missing AP man’s death in custody

HYderabad The Special investigating team up ( sit around) of the Andhra Pradesh law probing the caseful of mysterious disappearance of 25-year-old Gade Sai Krishna in Vijayawada on Wednesday declared that he was illegally detained and had died in the police custody at Krishna Lanka police station in the first week of May.The SIT, headed by inspector general of police M Ravi Prakash, which arrested suspended Krishna Lanka police inspector S S V V Nagaraju on Tuesday, produced him before the Second Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Vijayawada, on Wednesday.The court remanded Nagaraju to 14 days of judicial custody until July 8 and in the evening, he was shifted to Rajamahendravaram Central Prison.In the remand report submitted to the court and was seen by HT, the investigating officer of the SIT accused Nagaraju of illegal detention, wrongful confinement, murder, destruction of evidence and suppression of material facts. Investigators informed the court that available evidence pointed to a custodial death and that Sai Krishna’s death was allegedly linked to injuries sustained while in police custody.According to the SIT, Sai Krishna, against whom two non-bailable warrants were pending in earlier cases, was apprehended by a Vijayawada City Police team near Markapuram in the early hours of May 6, and brought to Krishna Lanka police station on the same day.The remand report, quoting multiple witnesses, asserted that Sai Krishna was physically present at the police station after being brought there. “Though Nagaraju took Sai Krishna into custody on May 6 itself, he had not been produced before the jurisdictional magistrate within the mandatory 24-hour period prescribed by law,” it said, adding no lawful explanation had been provided for this failure, strengthening allegations of illegal detention.Sai Krishna’s mother, Gade Vijayalakshmi, also told the investigators that she had seen him in the lock-up on May 8 in an unconscious state with visible injuries and his legs tied. According to her statement, she also heard his cries while he was in custody and repeatedly appealed to police officials, including Nagaraju, to release him.She later approached the state high court through a habeas corpus petition requesting that her son be produced before the court.The SIT has relied on witness testimonies and other evidence to conclude that Sai Krishna remained in police custody between May 6 and May 8, during which period he is suspected to have been tortured and fatally injured. Investigators alleged that after his death, efforts were made to conceal the crime.A key aspect of the investigation relates to missing CCTV footage from Krishnalanka Police Station. Personnel from the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory visited the station on June 19 to retrieve footage from the digital video recorder (DVR) system.However, investigators found that no recordings were available between May 1 and June 1—a period that coincides with Sai Krishna’s alleged illegal detention and disappearance. The SIT considers the absence of footage highly significant and suspects deliberate destruction of evidence.The remand report further alleged that Nagaraju suppressed crucial information from the Andhra Pradesh high court. After the habeas corpus petition was filed, Nagaraju reportedly submitted written instructions to the court stating that police were making efforts to trace Sai Krishna.However, investigators alleged that he failed to disclose that Sai Krishna had already been apprehended near Markapuram and brought to Krishnalanka police station under police custody.According to the SIT, this amounted to deliberate suppression of material facts and an attempt to mislead the high court regarding the circumstances surrounding Sai Krishna’s disappearance. Investigators stated that the failure to disclose his custody status, coupled with the missing CCTV footage and witness statements, points to a coordinated effort to conceal the truth.The SIT also alleged that Sai Krishna’s body was disposed of after his death in an attempt to destroy evidence. Vijayalakshmi told investigators that police personnel had allegedly burnt the body beyond recognition. The SIT noted that Sai Krishna’s body has not yet been traced and that Nagaraju has not been cooperating with efforts to establish its whereabouts.In its report, the SIT stated that the circumstances surrounding Sai Krishna’s apprehension, his continued presence in police custody, injuries noticed on his body, failure to produce him before a magistrate, suppression of facts before the High Court, disappearance of CCTV footage and the inability of the accused to explain the victim’s whereabouts collectively create a strong prima facie inference that Sai Krishna died after sustaining fatal injuries in police custody.According to the FIR, Nagaraju was booked under Section 103 (1) (murder), 127(4) (wrongful confinement for 10 days or more), 127(6) (wrongful confinement in secret) and Section 238 (suppression of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita.