IAS officer and his son arrested in driver's murder 

case in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





In a new twist to the sensational murder of a driver on the terrace of an apartment complex at Rehmath Nagar, IAS officer D Venkateshwara Rao was arrested on Tuesday for his complicity in the killing of driver Nagaraju. The bureaucrat was charged with harbouring an offender and tampering with evidence.

After four days of the gruesome murder, police claimed the victim's bid to sodomise the officer's elder son D Venkata Sukruth was the trigger.

Deputy commissioner of police (west zone) said Venkata Sukruth and his father Venkateshwara Rao, joint secretary in the agriculture cooperation department at the Telangana secretariat, were arrested around 3pm.Sukruth was produced in court and remanded in judicial custody, while the IAS officer complained of giddiness.

He was shifted to Apollo hospital, where he is recovering, and might be produced in court on Wednesday . As per his confession, police said Sukruth hit the victim with a brick after Nagaraju attempted to sexually abuse him on the terrace of Sai Kalyan apartment on Friday night.

“We collected scientific evidence, based on which the two were arrested. The IAS officer, his younger son Shashank came near the apartment on Saturday to help Sukruth shift the body of Nagaraju.Shanshak's role will also be probed during the course of investigation. We will ascertain whether the victim and Sukruth had an sexual encounters in the past,'' the DCP said at a media briefing.

Immediately after the murder, Sukruth left the premises and returned after two hours when he realised that he forgot his bike key on the terrace. After that, Sukruth called his father and informed about the murder and the IAS officer enquired whether the body was moved out of the building or not.

“Since the body was not shifted, Rao and Sukruth planned how to shift the body all through Saturday . Accordingly , the trio went in an i10 car, registered in the name of IAS officer's estranged wife, to the apartment complex,“ the official said.

Police said Sukruth's bid to shift the body alerted a flat owner, Janakiram. On noticing the suspicious activity , he quizzed him about he heavy object. When the culprit suddenly started running, other flat owners screamed “Donga, Donga (burglar, burglar“.
A fruit stall owner saw Sukruth running away in one direction. On seeing him flee, Rao and Shashank too started to leave in a hurry . They got into a car and reached Madhuranagar, where Sukruth's mother stays. Sukruth, however, went to his father's house at Begumpet.

The IAS officer was arrested under sections 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen) and 212 (Harbouring offender) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).