HYDERABAD: Mallisetti Bhanu Kiran, alias Bhanu, the man accused of murdering Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Maddelacheruvu Suri, walked out of the Chanchalguda jail on Wednesday, 13 years after the incident.
The Supreme Court had on October 25 granted bail to Bhanu who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Suri murder case in 2011. Suri himself was the prime accused in murder of TDP MLA Paritala Ravi.
In 2018, Bhanu moved the Telangana HC, urging it to set aside his conviction and sentence imposed by the First Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Nampally. With the HC rejecting his plea, Bhanu moved the SC for relief.
Pertinently, the high court, while dismissing Bhanu’s appeal, noted: “In the instant case, PW 9 is the only one who witnessed the incident. Except him, there is no other witness to speak about the incident. Though PW 9 turned hostile, whether his evidence would be helpful to the prosecution must be seen to find the accused guilty of the aforesaid offences or not. It is settled law that if a witness turned hostile, his evidence to the extent useful can be relied upon.
Apart from the same, relying on the circumstantial evidence, conviction can be recorded, if the circumstances relied upon by the prosecution forms a complete chain. In view of the same, this case relies on most of the circumstantial evidence.”
After going through the high order, the SC granted bail to Bhanu. “We suspend the substantive order of sentence of life imprisonment as imposed by the trial court and order that the appellant be released on bail, pending final disposal of the appeal, ” the SC order reads.