ONGOLE: The death of B Paripurna Chandra Rao in police custody is snowballing into a controversy with Chirala MLA Amanchi Krishna Mohan going to the rescue of the victim’s family and targeting the District Superintendent of Police Ch Srikanth.
The legislator raised several doubts in the theory of the police that Rao died after a seizure, and demanded a judicial inquiry into the circumstances that led to his death.
Speaking to mediapersons at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ongole, Krishna Mohan accused the SP of threatening the relatives of the victim against prolonging the issue.
The MLA said that the SP, who came to RIMS where the body was lying along with his officers, threatened the victim’s wife Maha Lakshmi on making accusations against the police. The MLA said the SP offered her `10,000 cash for funeral expenses and asked her to take the body to Guntur where her parents live.
He asked the SP why he had posted a big number of policemen at the RIMS and why was he trying to save Vetapalem SI Chandrasekhar who is responsible for Rao’s death.
The legislator took exception to the police taking Rao to the Chirala hospital in an auto. “If Rao was alive then, how come the police did not call the ambulance? The police took Rao to the hospital in an auto because they knew he was dead already,” he said.
The legislator demanded that Vetapalem SI should be relieved of his duties immediately till the inquiry ordered by the SP is over. He wanted the police inquiry to be done by an IPS officer from Guntur district.