Telangana twin murders: Lawyers shun work for second day

Telangana courts witnessed thin attendance for the second consecutive day on Friday (February 19) as lawyers boycotted work in protest against the brutal murder of fellow advocates Gattu Vaman Rao and Nagamani. Except for the high court, business did not take place in the lower courts, including tribunals, across Telangana and some courts in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

The lawyers have been demanding a CBI probe into the murder of the Gattu couple on Wednesday. The couple was waylaid on a busy highway, dragged out of their vehicle and brutally hacked by miscreants in front of scores of commuters.

Ramagundam police in a statement on Thursday evening announced the arrest of ruling TRS party leader Kunta Srinivas, Sivandula Chiranjeevi and Akkapaka Kumar from Maharashtra in the case. Kunta is the nephew of Peddapalli Zilla Parishad chairman and TRS party leader Putta Madhu. The TRS leadership took no time to disown him by announcing his suspension from the party.

The cops also seized a black car used by the offenders. The police said the investigation is still in progress. They also mentioned that they would collect digital and social media evidences for deeper insights into the ghastly offence.

Fellow lawyers and relatives were in tears seeing the lawyer couple being consigned to the fire on a single pyre on Thursday evening, hours after the authorities handed over the bodies to the bereaved family upon completing the postmortem at Peddapalli government hospital.

Manthani police interacted with Vaman Rao’s father Kishan Rao and brother Indrasekhar for a second time on Thursday. Kishan Rao said a person from belonging to the couple’s village had closely followed their movements at the court and may have been tasked with updating the couple’s whereabouts and their leaving the court on the fated day.

Meanwhile, Telangana Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka and Manthani MLA D Sreedhar Babu called on the bereaved family members at Gunjapadugu village on Friday morning. They demanded transfer of Ramagundam Police Commissioner V Satyanarayana, to ensure a fair and impartial investigation.

“The couple was fighting against a custodial death hence the demand to keep the commissioner away from the investigation,” Sreedhar said.

The Congress leaders demanded statements from chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, home minister Mahmood Ali and DGP Mahender Reddy on the killing of the couple, allegedly by men of the ruling party. They also asked for protection to the family, expressing fears of threat to their lives.

A delegation of the Telangana State Legal Cell of the BJP too met the bereaved family.