VIJAYAWADA: In a horrifying incident, a burnt body of a youth sent shivers down the spine of the locals after it was found at an isolated place in Pedapulipaka village under Penamaluru police station limits on Wednesday morning. The deceased youth was identified as Jeevan Kumar, a resident of Sunnapu Battila centre under Machavaram police station limits. The 20-year-old victim was a third-year engineering student studying at a private college in the city.
According to Penamaluru police, the incident took place on Tuesday late night after the victim attended the birthday bash of his friend Syam at Gurunanak colony. Another friend named Bikki and two others were also present in the party. Police said the deceased spoke to his parents at around 2 am when they called him. His body was found burnt at Pedapulipaka village on Wednesday morning.
“It is suspected that the victim was set ablaze by his friends. A local person noticed the dead body in the morning and informed the police. We have registered a case and an investigation is on. The body has been sent to Vuyyur GGH for postmortem,” said the Penamaluru police.
The clues team and sniffer dogs team inspected the scene of crime and collected evidence. Speaking to TNIE, Penamaluru circle inspector Kishore Kumar said a special team has been formed to ascertain the facts and reasons behind the death of Jeevan.
“The team is collecting call data records and CCTV footage of the venue where the deceased celebrated his friend’s birthday. Preliminary examination revealed that petrol was poured on the victim before he was set ablaze,” said the inspector.