The son of a former minister is now the main suspect in a two-year-old murder case of a Dalit youth in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district. Pinipe Srikanth, son of ex-minister Vishwarup, is believed to be involved in the killing of Janupalli Durga Prasad.
Key Developments
Police have resumed the investigation after Two years,as per AP Minister Vasanshetti Subhash’s intervention. One suspect, Dharmesh, was recently arrested and sent to custody. Now, police are searching for Srikanth and four other suspects.
Durga Prasad, a YSRCP volunteer from Ayinavilli, went missing on June 6, 2022. His body was later found in the Godavari River near Kotipalli. This happened during the Konaseema riots. At first, police treated it as a missing person case. They changed it to a murder case after getting the post-mortem report. Some people say the investigation was stopped because of orders from Minister Vishwarup, who was part of the YSRCP government.
A month ago, Durga Prasad’s wife, Sravana Sandhya, met Minister Vasanshetti Subhash. She asked for justice and punishment for her husband’s killers. The minister then brought this to the attention of DGP Dwarka Tirumala Rao. Following the DGP’s orders, Kottapeta DSP Govindarao started a new investigation. They questioned Vaddi Dharmesh, a suspect from Uppalaguptam mandal. Dharmesh is a friend of the victim and works as a social media coordinator for YSRCP.
Investigation Status
Police have gathered details about the roles of different people in the murder. Dharmesh was arrested on the 18th of this month. Both Dharmesh and Durga Prasad were close to Srikanth, the ex-minister’s son. They often took part in YSRCP activities. Police believe Srikanth decided to have Durga Prasad killed and asked Dharmesh for help. Srikanth reportedly assigned the task to four other people.
Kottapeta DSP Govindarao, who is leading the investigation, said they will share more details soon.
Murder Conspiracy:
According to sources, the murder was planned in a lodge. Dharmesh took Durga Prasad on a bike to Kotipalli ferry point. Four others followed in a car. At the ferry, someone took Durga Prasad into a boat. Three people from the car then strangled him with a rope.
Some of the suspects in this case are also main suspects in another murder in Mummidivaram mandal. On September 30, Sravana Sandhya asked the Konaseema district SP to punish her husband’s killers and give her justice.
