The Hyderabad police were on a massive manhunt to trace and nab the accused in the Saidabad rape and murder case in which a six-year-old girl was the victim. The prime suspect, 30-year-old Pallakonda Raju, had been absconding ever since the incident came to light on September 9.
Speaking to TNM, the child's family had alleged that the police had delayed breaking open the house of the accused, despite the family of the child suspecting his role in the six-year-old having gone missing. It was when they finally broke open the door of the house that they found the body of the child, raped and murdered.
Exactly a week after the incident, on Thursday, September 16, the prime accused was found dead on the railway tracks at Station Ghanpur, which falls under Telangana’s Warangal police Commissionerate limits. The police identified the dead body as that of the accused with the help of three tattoos on his hands. Later, Raju's family was called to identify the body of the accused.
Narrating the timeline of events, Warangal Commissioner Tarun Joshi said, “At around 9:58 am this morning, Station Ghanpur police received a call regarding an unidentified person found dead on the railway track. Immediately, an SI along with his team visited the spot. As police were already on the lookout for the accused, we had all details about the accused’s identification marks, clothes etc. Based on the comparison of details we identified the body to be that of the rape accused Raju. The information was provided by a railway employee who was working on the railway track.”
According to the police, an eye witness informed the police that he found this man walking on the track. When asked to move away from the track he began running and meanwhile a train, Konark Express, heading towards Hyderabad hit him and he died on the spot. “The body was identified by his family members and a case was registered by the Government Railway Police (GRP) and his body has been shifted. The accused who we have been looking for has been found and it is a clear case of suicide as confirmed by the eye witness,” added the Commissioner.
Raju had absconded soon after the child was reported missing. Based on CCTV footage and other leads collected, it was found that he was on the run. The Hyderabad police had formed several teams to trace the accused and nab him. On September 14, six days after the incident, the Commissioner of police had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for any information or leads which would help the police trace the accused.
Speaking to TNM, M Ramesh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, East Zone had revealed that the cops were hoping that the public would be able to lead them to the accused. “We are everywhere with the support of media and people. The accused is used to roaming around like a homeless person. He hasn’t been in touch with friends or family. His relatives were picked up the next day after the incident and they were examined.”
According to the police, the accused wasn’t carrying a phone and that made tracing him a herculean task. As the police got to know through the course of investigation that the accused was addicted to alcohol and toddy, they deployed teams across the state at wine shops and toddy compounds. A highly placed source revealed that the police had secured all the 2200 wine shops and 150 odd toddy compounds in the state as they expected that the accused would try to visit one of them. They had also deployed police at bus stands, railways stations and other places. Posters with the photos of the accused were plastered across several parts in the city. The police also revealed that despite fatigue and stress they were combing through CCTV footage across locations. The highly placed source also revealed that the DGP was personally monitoring the case.
Over the last week, several politicians, activists and celebrities have visited the family to express their condolences to the grieving family. TPCC Chief Revanth Reddy, Jana Sena Chief Pawan Kalyan, YSR Telangana party Chief YS Sharmila, YS Vijayamma, RS Praveen Kumar from the BSP and several others were among those who visited the family. On Thursday, a week after the incident was reported, Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali visited the family and ensured that the police would nab the accused soon. However, with many politicians openly calling for encounters, many have questioned the way Raju died.