15 get life term for murder

By Our Legal Correspondent

HYDERABAD, AUG. 28. Fifteen persons, accused of killing TDP workers at Balusupadu village of Peddakurapadu area, Guntur district, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Division Bench of the A.P.High Court on Tuesday. The Bench, comprising Mr. Justice Ramesh Madhav Bapat and Mr. Justice B. Prakash Rao, was allowing an appeal filed by the State against the judgment of the District and Sessions Judge, Guntur, who had acquitted the accused.

According to the prosecution, Section 144 was imposed on the village and a police picket posted after clashes between the rival groups owing allegiance to the TDP and the Congress. The group, led by Bachu Venkateswarlu, attacked the rivals on May 14, 1990, with deadly weapons. Nallapaneni Sambasiva Rao, Chinna Koteswara Rao and Pulliah were killed and other prosecution witnesses were grievously injured.

The State preferred an appeal and the Bench went into the evidence and the expert opinions. The Bench dealt with the evidence rendered by former Minister, Mr. Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, who deposed that Mr. Bachu Venkateswarlu, the main accused, was at a public meeting attended by the late Rajiv Gandhi. The Bench did not give credence to that deposition saying that the accused was not an important functionary of the party and there was no reason for the Minister to remember the presence of the accused in a large gathering.

The Bench further felt that the medical and forensic experts opinion and the evidence of the injured persons on the spot corroborated the prosecution. The Bench found Baachu Venkateswarlu, Veeraraghavulu, Gundla Bommala Sambasiva Rao, Srinivas Rao, Gogi Reddy Venkata Ramana Reddy, Sanjeeva Reddy, Tirupati Reddy, Nagireddy, Ravi Reddy, Sambi Reddy, Vepuri Srinivas, Chinna Nagabhushanam, Chinnam Prasad, Vemula Narayana and Rami Reddy guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment and one year imprisonment under Section 302 of the Indian Penal code.

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Section  : Southern States
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