PEDDAPALLI: While the probe into twin murders of lawyer couple, Gattu Vaman Rao and Nagamani, is progressing at brisk pace and the investigating officers are striving to file the chargesheet within stipulated time, rumours that Peddapalli ZP chairman Putta Madhu has gone into hiding, have started surfacing in the district.
According to sources, the police are now on the hunt for Madhu and suspect that he fled to Maharashtra. When The New Indian Express spoke to a few official sources, we learnt that Putta Madhu has been missing since April 29.
When the Telangana police, with the help of their Mumbai counterpart, tried to trace Madhu by tracking his cell phone location, it was found that he was staying in Chora coal mine area of Maharashtra's Yavatmal district. Though the police hatched a plan to nab him, Madhu fled the spot after sensing police movement.
It may be mentioned here that Putta Madhu’s nephew Bittu Seenu, one of the accused persons, has been in judicial custody since February.
Though the ZP chief's name had surfaced during the initial days of probe when an audio clip in which Kunta Srinivas, Accused No. 1, was heard speaking to person who sounded like a contract killer, by taking the name of Madhu several times, while asking him to eliminate a leader.
However, the investigating officers never arrested him or even directly went behind him. The next hearing of the case will be held on June 4. Meanwhile, there are rumours that Putta Madhu is a close associate of Eatala Rajender and that the former went into hiding after KCR ordered a probe into an alleged encroachment of assigned lands by Rajender.