ADILABAD: In what appears to be another chilling instance of an attack to protect “family honour”, a case has been filed against a BJP councillor from Adilabad district and his wife for allegedly attacking a Dalit youth, who was in a relationship with their daughter, with the intent to kill him.
Mavala councillor Ushkem Raghupathi and his wife Arundhati belong to the BC community. E Vamshi, the Dalit youth, is now under treatment in a hospital in Hyderabad.
Police said the attack took place on December 18. They revealed details about the attack on Saturday after registering cases against the woman’s parents and four members of a supari gang.
They were booked under Sections 307 and 109 r/w 34 of the IPC, 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The police are yet to arrest Raghupati and Arundhanti, who are on the run.
4 accused in police custody
The police have already detained the four members of the supari gang: Chown Ravi, G Ashok, Sk Dilshad and V Raju. Adilabad Deputy Superintendent of Police V Umendhra said that the BJP leader’s daughter has been in love with Vamshi from Mavala village. The BJP councillor is said to have taken Vamshi to a farmhouse around two years ago and threatened to kill him if he continued his relationship with his daughter.
When the councillor came to know that Vamshi and his daughter were continuing their relationship, he decided to kill him, police said. He is then believed to have hired the supari gang, offering them Rs 15 lakh to eliminate Vamshi, with Rs 1 lakh as advance payment to Ravi.
The gang, before attacking Vamshi, conducted a recce to know his movements on a day-to-day basis. On December 18, when Vamshi was on his two-wheeler to supply milk to the people of his area early in the morning, the culprits hit him on the rear with their bikes.
Upon impact, Vamshi fell from the vehicle and sustained serious injuries, police said. He was later shifted to Hyderabad for better treatment. Vamshi’s father lodged a complaint with the police, who, after examining the CCTV footage, registered a case.