HYDERABAD: Bojannagari Vijaya Chaitanya Reddy accused of killing an ST man Santosh Rathod at Vikarabad in 2016, has been sentenced to imprisonment for life. He was also slapped with a fine of Rs 15,000. He along with four others, Avsupally Ramaswamy, Anthireddygari Rajender Reddy, Gadhe Raghu and Ramaswamy’s younger Avsupally Babu killed Rathod, as he was forcing Babu to return the Rs 25,000 amount which Babu had borrowed from the victim.
While Vijaya Chaitanya Reddy, Avsupally Ramaswamy, Anthireddygari Rajender Reddy and Gadhe Raghu were arrested, Babu had been absconding since then. The court took up the trial against the four arrested accused, following which they were found guilty in March 2021.
While the quantum of the sentence was deferred to April 6, only Ramaswamy appeared before the court and he was sentenced to life term, while Vijaya Chaitanya Reddy, Rajender Reddy and Raghu went absconding again after being found guilty.
The court issued warrants against them. Later Rajender Reddy and Raghu were also produced before the court and they were sentenced to life term and imprisonment for four years respectively. However, Vijaya Chaitanya Reddy remained absconding.
Inquiries revealed that after being found guilty, Vijaya Chaitanya Reddy got married and fled to Andhra Pradesh. He was recently caught in Srikakulam and produced before the court, which sentenced him to imprisonment for life on Thursday.
The victim Santosh and Babu were friends. Babu had borrowed Rs 25,000 from the victim. As he delayed the repayment, Santosh started pressurizing him. Unable to pay the amount, Babu informed his elder brother Ramaswamy, who warned the victim of dire consequences. In return, the victim warned them of approaching the police.
Fearing a police case, the accused killed Santosh. While four accused were arrested immediately, Babu who is the person behind continues to be on the run even after more than five years of the offence.