Telangana HC orders judicial probe into death of rape-murder accused

Hyderabad, Sep 17:  The Telangana High Court on Friday ordered a judicial inquiry into the death of the accused in rape and murder of a six-year-old girl.

It directed the third metropolitan magistrate of Warangal to conduct an inquiry into death of Pallakonda Raju, who was found dead on railway tracks near Ghanpur station in Jangaon district on Thursday, and submit a report to the court in a sealed cover in four weeks.

The court gave the direction after hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by State Civil Liberties Committee President G. Laxman, who expressed apprehensions that police killed Raju in its custody and projected it as a suicide.

Advocate General B.S. Prasad, however, submitted that it is a clear case of suicide and there are eight eyewitnesses to the incident. He said the police had recorded statements of the eye witnesses.

He also informed the court that the autopsy of Raju's body was also videographed. The court directed that the video recording of autopsy be handed over to Warangal district judge.

Raju, 30, was found dead on the railway tracks in Jangaon on Thursday, a week after he sexually assaulted and killed the minor girl at his house in Singareni Colony in Saidabad area of Hyderabad.

The victim's body was recovered from the house of Raju, who happened to be her neighbor, on the night of September 9.

The incident had triggered massive public outrage with some people and politicians, including a state minister, calling for killing the culprit in an "encounter".

A massive manhunt was launched for Raju across the state. The police had also announced Rs 10 lakh reward for any information leading to his arrest.