VIJAYAWADA: The re-investigation of sensational murder and rape case of B-Pharmacy student Syed Ayesha Meera came back to square one on Friday with the Fourth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court dismissing the petition filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) requesting it to allow seven suspects in the case to undergo narcoanalysis test.Seventeen-year-old B-Pharmacy student Ayesha Meera was brutally killed in her hostel room at Jupudi village under Ibrahimpatnam mandal on December 27, 2007.
The decision over narcoanalysis was taken after the seven suspects failed to co-operate with the investigating agency during interrogation held on March 30, 2018. After the High Court verdict pronounced that Satyam Babu was innocent and framed in the case in April 2017, the parents of Ayesha demanded that the police conduct re-investigation.
SIT officials requested the court to send the seven suspects - Inampudi Padma (hostel warden), Inampudi Siva Ramakrishna (hostel warden’s husband), Ayesha’s roommates Sowmya and Preethi, prime accused Koneru Satish Babu (grandson of former minister Koneru Ranga Rao), Abburi Ganesh and Chintha Pawan Kumar - to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Gandhi Nagar (Gujarat) for conduct narcoanalysis test and Brain Electrical Oscillating Signature Profiling Test (BEOSP or BEOS) after recording their consent. The SIT officials clearly mentioned in the petition that the tests are crucial to ascertain the facts in the case.
When Ayesha’s parents demanded justice and approached High Court seeking a CBI inquiry, former DGP N Sambasiva Rao constituted the SIT team, headed by Visakhapatnam Range DIG Ch Srikanth and three officers. The High Court gave special powers to SIT to complete the investigation by July 19. “Narcoanalysis is the only way to proceed further in the investigation as there is no other means to collect evidence in this case,” the prosecution argued.
Despite explaining the need for the conducting tests, the judge dismissed the petition as the suspects expressed their reluctance. “The test should be conducted at least on the hostel warden, her husband and Ayesha’s room-mates. Since the court dismissed the petition, we are waiting to see how the probe moves further,” said lawyer Pichuka Srinivas, who took up the case. SIT officials were not available for comment.