Lock-up death: inquest conducted amid tight security

By Our Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA, JULY 16. Tension prevailed in the University General Hospital here on Sunday where hundreds of people congregated to see the body of Velpuri Srinivasa Rao, who died in police custody. Mutta workers and the victim's relatives raised slogans against the police when revenue officials went to the mortuary to conduct the inquest.

Additional forces were requisitioned by the police authorities as a precaution. Forces from Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna districts were here by dawn. Two vanloads of policemen and Rapid Action Force personnel were kept handy at the hospital where the inquest was conducted by the Vijayawada (Urban) MRO, Mr. Dharma Reddy.

Though the police presence at the hospital was heavy, they did not restrict the entry of hundreds of people who came to see the body of Srinivasa Rao.

The MRO and the Sub-Collector, Mr. Peeyush Kumar, recorded nine `injuries' on the body. There were bruises on the right temple and the forehead. There were marks on the left side of the neck, chest and back, on the ribs, abdomen and legs. They recorded that the private parts were also swollen.

The MRO took the statements of 13 persons. The statements of the Inspector, the sub-inspector, the ASI, two constables and the sentry who were on duty were recorded. The versions of the father, mother and brother- in-law of the victim, Gurram Nageswara Rao, who was also beaten up along with Srinivasa Rao, the auto driver who brought the body to the hospital, a doctor of Safe Hospitals and a compounder of Meher Clinic were recorded.

After the inquest, a team of doctors who came from Guntur performed the post-mortem. The case was handed over to the CID SP, Mr. Mohan Rao, by the Vijayawada police late last night itself.

Leaders of all parties, several of them wearing black badges, visited the hospital. The TDP city president, Mr. Adusumilli Jaya Prakash, commending the suspension of the policemen and the officer involved, urged the Government to announce a generous ex- gratia and a job for Srinivasa Rao's widow.

The BJP general secretary, Mr. Chiguluri Krishna Rao, demanded ex gratia, and stern punishment to the erring policemen.

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