HYDERABAD: The Pocharam IT Corridor police on Thursday arrested three persons in connection with the alleged attempt to murder a self-styled gau rakshak Prashanth alias Sonu Singh at Yamnampet on Wednesday evening. The arrests were made within 12 hours of the incident.
The accused have been identified as cattle transporters Mohammad Ibrahim Qureshi (24) and Hassan bin Mosin (22), and farmer Kuruva Srinivas (29). Another accused, Mohammad Haneef Qureshi, is absconding.
Police said Prashanth was called to a real estate venture at Yamnampet to reportedly discuss a “settlement” between him and the accused. During the meeting, one of the accused allegedly shot him with a country-made weapon and fled. He sustained a gunshot injury to the chest and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital, where doctors removed a bullet from his body.
Rachakonda Commissioner of Police G Sudheer Babu said Ibrahim Qureshi had been involved in cattle transport for several years and allegedly suffered losses of about Rs 1 crore after repeated police interceptions. He suspected that Prashanth had tipped off the police. Prashanth had also reportedly demanded Rs 5 lakh to stop interfering in Ibrahim’s activities.
“We found evidence of two shots being fired at the scene. One bullet was recovered from the injured,” the police commissioner said. He added that the accused and Prashanth knew each other and there was ample evidence of them being in contact with each other before the incident. Police said Ibrahim had procured the firearm from a friend in Chhattisgarh.
Meanwhile, State BJP president N Ramchander Rao and several leaders were detained by police. They attempted to stage a protest in front of the DGP’s office at Lakdikapul in response to the attack on Sonu Singh.