HYDERABAD: Even though Vikram Goud, who is an ardent follower of astrology, had instructed the gangsters to shoot at him thrice as he considered ‘3’ as his lucky number, a third bullet on his body might have cost him his life. Following the film-like meticulous planning, police are likely to examine Vikram Goud’s psychological conditions with the assistance of doctors who are treating him.
The former minister’s son wanted the hired gangsters to shoot at his shoulders. However, the second round of fire had pierced through his stomach and hit his spinal cord and the third round did not fire as the weapon was jammed. Had the third bullet hit him, also from a close range, the circumstances would have left him in serious trouble. The hired gangsters, police said, were not experts in using a weapon in firing.
“In two bullet injuries, Vikram Goud received injury to his left shoulder. Another bullet injury pierced his body and struck his spinal cord. A team of doctors, who examined him, told him that it would be difficult to remove the bullet from spinal cord through a surgery,” said officials.
Vikram Goud, who wants to contest in 2019 assembly elections, hired a gang to shoot him with a weapon in order to gain sympathy from public to fructify his political ambitions.“Minutes before the gang members opened fire at him in Banjara Hills, Vikram Goud instructed the gang members, who are not professional in operating weapon, to fire at three rounds as Goud’s lucky number is 3,” said Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy.
Watchman’s statements gave the leads
The watchman at Goud’s residence said that at around 1.30 am on July 28, Vikram Goud returned home and instructed him to not lock the doors as his friends were to arrive soon. Minutes after the shooting took place, the watchman cleared the blood stains on the floor. After gang members committed the offence, they fled away from the place on a certain route, as instructed Vikram Goud, to reach Mumbai highway to escape from police vigil. While passing through the stretch, the gang members threw the weapon that was used for committing offence into a pond in Hakeempet. Based on the confessional statement of the accused, the police recovered the weapon from the pond.
Vikram Goud hired a gang for Rs 50 lakh to fire at him
HYDERABAD: It was former minister M Mukesh Goud’s son Vikram Goud’s political aspirations that did him in. Eyeing the 2019 Assembly elections and public sympathy, Vikram staged his assassination drama, police said. Four days after Vikram had suffered gunshot injuries, the police managed to solve the mystery and concluded that the incident had been orchestrated by the victim himself.
Hyderabad police commissioner M Mahendar Reddy said here on Wednesday that Vikram had hired a gang for `50 lakh to fire on him.
He invested a lot of money in mining in Odisha and some other ventures. In a bid to recover his investments and also to get off the hook of financiers, he staged this crime, police said.
The Youth Congress leader was shot at at his Banjara Hills residence on July 28. He claimed that unknown assailants barged into his home at Film Nagar and opened fire on him. But police did not buy his concoction as there were several contradictions which raised further suspicions.
Police maintain that his wife Shipali had no role in the plan hatched by Vikram, who is now undergoing treatment with a bullet still stuck in his spinal cord. He is the prime accused in the case and is yet to be arrested. Vikram also wished to gain the sympathy of his family members.
According to the police, he thought that police would go after his enemies and he would get back his investments in a mining project in Odisha from his partner Sambasiva Rao if everything went according to his plan.
As he was in huge debts, he thought that his creditors would stop troubling him in the wake of such an attack on him. He also thought that it would be then easy to get a weapon licence from police.
Govind Reddy met Vikram and requested him for roles in films as the latter produced a couple of films.
A few months ago, Vikram asked Govind to help him hire a gang to execute his plan. Accordingly, Govind formed a gang and went to Indore to purchase an illegal weapon, police said.
The first attempt did not work out as the gang members failed to execute the plan in public. In the second attempt on July 28, they opened fire on Vikram leaving him with bullet injuries at his residence.
After the incident, Vikram’s wife Shipali lodged a complaint with the Banjara Hills police stating that unknown miscreants opened fire at her husband.Police have arrested five persons so far. They are S Nanda Kumar (35), Shaik Ahmed (30) and Kokanti Babujan (35) of Anantapur, Raees Khan (32) of Indore, A Govind Reddy (29) of YSR Kadapa district. Two others, Venkata Ramana and Ghouse, are absconding, police said.
Chicken-seller turns shooter
Rayees Khan, 32, a resident of Kabutarkhana, west Indore, who shot two rounds of fire at Vikram Goud, was a chicken-seller.