Absconding accused Suresh surrenders before SIT in Sai Krishna custodial death case

Suresh, an accused in the alleged custodial death of Gade Sai Krishna, surrendered before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Thursday. He had been evading arrest for several months and is listed as accused number four in the case.

According to the SIT, Suresh is a close associate of S.S.V.V. Nagaraju, the suspended Krishnalanka Circle Inspector who is also an accused in the case. The investigation team had earlier taken into custody the Circle Inspector, four constables and a home guard attached to the Krishnalanka police station, and had been searching for Suresh.

Sai Krishna, 25, went missing after he was allegedly taken into custody by the Krishnalanka police on May 9. His mother, G. Vijaya Lakshmi, filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court, alleging that Nagaraju had tortured her son to death and that the police had disposed of the body. The body has not been recovered.

The SIT has told a magistrate's court that staff at the police station destroyed evidence, including CCTV footage and other digital records. Two of the accused reportedly told investigators that they had sold their mobile phones in Nagpur.

Separately, Nagaraju was booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for abetment of suicide after Perupogu Kranthi Kumar, a resident of Vijayawada, died by suicide on May 21. Kumar had recorded a video alleging harassment by the Circle Inspector and his staff.