HYDERABAD: Seven years after AP-based gangster Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Maddelacheruvu Suri was shot dead in the city, his close aide M Bhanukiran and another person who helped execute the plan, have been found guilty by a city court.
The court sentenced Bhanukiran to life imprisonment, while Manmohan Singh Bhadauria, the aide, was sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment.
The statements of Suri’s car driver Madhumohan Reddy, who was driving the car at the time of the incident, turned to be the key piece of evidence in the case. However, the court acquitted four other accused in the case Sulam Subbaiah, B Venkata Hari Babu, Venkataramana and K Vamseedhar Reddy, as the prosecution failed to prove the charges against them.
Suri was convicted in the Jubilee Hills car bomb blast case in 1997, which was aimed at his opponent and former minister from AP Paritala Ravindra and was also an accused in the latter’s murder in 2005, when he was an MLA.
Case history
On Jan 3, 2011 when Suri along with Bhanukiran was returning to his residence, Bhanukiran sitting behind Suri in the rear seat of the car, opened fire with his 0.32 country made pistol and shot two rounds at Suri, killing him on the spot
A shocked Madhumohan Reddy stopped the car immediately, after which Bhanukiran alighted from the vehicle and walked away saying that they were being attacked by rivals. A case was registered initially at Banjara Hills police station. Later, it was transferred to the CCS. CID probed the case later
Bhanukiran had earlier confessed before the investigating agency that he had planned to kill Suri, due to the severe humiliation meted out to him and warnings by Suri against the former’s land deals when Suri was serving his imprisonment.
Bhanukiran who handled the businesses, financial and family matters of Suri, became the most trusted aide, but taking advantage of this, he allegedly amassed assets and involved himself in land settlements on a large scale, when Suri was undergoing imprisonment.
After Suri’s release from prison, he got to know about the activities of Bhanukiran and started putting a tab on him, which finally ended with the shootout of Suri.
On Tuesday, the First Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Kunchala Sunitha delivered the judgement in a packed court hall. The court also imposed a fine of `20,000 each for the charges of murder and under the Arms Act proved against Bhanukiran and `5,000 for harbouring the accused and causing disappearance of evidence against Manmohan Singh.
The court, however, did not find merits in the evidence produced by the investigating agency against the other accused and acquitted them. The punishment of Manmohan Singh, who had already served seven years in prison, was set off and he was released from Chanchalguda central prison on Tuesday evening.