KHAMMAM: Hours after Mandiga Naga Ramakrishna, his wife and daughter died in a suicide pact in Palvoncha on Monday morning, police listed Kothagudem TRS MLA Vanama Venkateswara Rao’s son Raghavendra Rao, who is also a local pink party leader, as one of the accused for abetting the incident.
The police booked the case against Raghavendra Rao based on the content of a suicide note of Ramakrishna and the statement of his second daughter, who is now battling for life in Kothagudem area hospital.
Raghavendra Rao, however, denied any role in the incident. Speaking to the media, he said: “How am I responsible if a family dies in a suicide pact? The police should investigate the case properly. I am ready to face any punishment if they can show evidence against me. I have nothing to do with their deaths.”
On Monday, the sleepy town of Palvoncha woke up to the most heart-rending deaths of Ramakrishna, his wife Srilakshmi and daughter Sahitya. His second daughter Sahiti sustained third-degree burns. Early in the morning, Ramakrishna poured petrol on his family members and himself and set fire.
Before doing so, he left the LPG cylinder open and when he lit the match, the rooms were full with combustible gas. His mother, Suryavathi who was in another room, survived.
Palvoncha: TRS leader gave ‘verdict’ in dispute
According to Sahiti’s statement, Ramakrishna, who incurred heavily losses in business, had requested his mother Suryavathi and sister Madhavi for a share of the family property to which they did not agree. As he had taken huge loans running into tens of lakhs of rupees, he was in dire need of money. The Mee Seva centre he was running was not of much comfort as he was not making any money. He later leased it out to someone and shifted to Rajahmundry along with his family.
Ramakrishna had a running dispute with his sister and mother over property issues. As they could not come to an amicable resolution, they went to Raghavendra Rao. After he settled the dispute, Ramakrishna felt that he had been taken for a ride since the “verdict” was more in favour of his mother and sister. On Sunday, he went to Palvoncha from Rajahmundry with his family and resorted to the extreme step.
The police who rushed to the spot, found the suicide note in Ramakrishna’s car, in which he said that he was taking the drastic decision because of injustice done to him by Raghavendra Rao, who reportedly grew close to Madhavi in the recent past.
Police listed Ramakrishna (deceased) as Accused 1 (A1), Vanama Raghavendra Rao as A2, Suryavathi as A3 and K Madhavi as A4 in the case.
Palvoncha ASP B Rohit Raju said: “We’ve registered a case against Vanama Raghavendra Rao, Suryavathi and Madhavi based on the suicide note. A case is registered against Ramakrishna (deceased) based on the statement of his second daughter Sahithi, 13, who is battling for life. Ramakrishna’s name would be deleted from the case after the investigation is over as he is no more.”