VIJAYAWADA: Gade Vijayalakshmi, mother of 24-year-old custodial torture victim Gade Sai Krishna, has filed an interlocutory petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking transfer of the investigation from the state police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or any other independent agency that the court considers appropriate.
She has also requested that the investigation be conducted under the direct supervision of the High Court to ensure transparency and impartiality.
The petition is scheduled to come up for hearing before a Division Bench comprising Justices Ravi Nath Tilhari and Subhendu Samanta.
In her petition, Vijayalakshmi contended that a fair investigation by the local police was impossible, citing the SIT remand report, which allegedly states that personnel from Krishnalanka police station and the Task Force were involved in Sai’s disappearance and destruction of evidence.
She alleged attempts were being made to shield senior police officials and questioned why NTR district Police Commissioner SV Rajasekhara Babu remained silent for 40 days.
The petition claimed Sai Krishna was taken into police custody at Markapuram on May 6 and illegally detained at Krishnalanka police station without being produced before a magistrate within 24 hours. It further alleged that CCTV footage was deliberately deleted to conceal custodial torture and his subsequent death.
Vijayalakshmi said she lodged a complaint with the police commissioner on May 28, but a criminal case was registered only on June 19, after the High Court began hearing her habeas corpus petition.
She alleged the SIT probe was confined to one police officer while ignoring the role of others and accused the police of misleading the High Court by withholding information about Sai Krishna’s custody.
Arguing that officers facing allegations of custodial violence and murder cannot investigate their own colleagues impartially, Vijayalakshmi urged the High Court to transfer the probe to the CBI or another independent agency under court monitoring.
