PEDDAPALLI: Police, on Sunday, launched a search operation to retrieve two hunting sickles that were dumped in Sundilla (Parvathi) barrage by Kunta Srinivas and other accused after using them to murder the lawyer couple in Peddapalli.
Around three teams of expert swimmers were brought in from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to fish out the murder weapons from the barrage at Kasipeta village in Manthani mandal.
Kunta Srinivas and Sivanandula Chiranjeevi, who are in police custody for killing High Court lawyers Gattu Vaman Rao and PV Nagamani, were brought to the barrage to pinpoint the location where the sickles were dropped.
Boats were transported from Visakhapatnam in a special van for the search operation, which began in the afternoon and went on till the evening.
Unfortunately, the police were unable to find any clues regarding the whereabouts of the murder weapons on the first day of the search. Efforts will be resumed on Monday morning, said sources.
It may be mentioned here that the total capacity of Sundilla barrage is 8.83 tmcft, and it has about 74 gates. Finding the weapons, therefore, would prove challenging for the police and the swimmers.
Key to the case
For the police to build a watertight case, it is essential that the hunting sickles are produced before court as evidence.
Three days ago, the police had tried retrieving the weapons from the barrage with the help of local swimmers. Their efforts went in vain, forcing them to bring in experts from Visakhapatnam.
Meanwhile, the police are in the process of obtaining a court order to take Thulesegari Srinivas alias Bittu Seenu, nephew of TRS leader and ZP Chairperson Putta Madhu, into custody. They expect that the order will be issued on Monday.