Date:11/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/11/stories/2008021160151000.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Murder case: clean chit to Minister’s kin

Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA: A day before the commencement of the budget session of the Legislative Assembly, the Vijayawada police on Sunday gave a clean chit to Koneru Satish, grandson of Municipal Administration Minister Koneru Ranga Rao, whose involvement in the murder of pharmacy student Ayesha Meera was being alleged by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

“The handwriting and blood samples of Koneru Satish do not match with the clues that we got from the scene of offence.

A lie detector test was also conducted on him, but the result is yet to come,” Police Commissioner C.V. Anand said at the first press conference he addressed to talk about the progress in the investigation, 44 days after the occurrence of the crime.

Mr. Anand asserted that the city police would continue their investigation until the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had been asked by the State Government to take over the probe, began its own investigation.

“Six police teams are on the job for the last 40 days and they collected handwriting samples of 400 persons and blood samples of 23 persons. Lie detector tests were conducted on 15 persons,” he disclosed, adding that the case was being investigated from all possible angles, including verification of telephone calls of all the suspects.