Suspect in Telangana minor’s rape and murder found dead on railway tracks

Hyderabad Police Commissioner said the suspect appeared to have committed suicide by jumping in front of a train

A 30-YEAR-OLD man wanted by police for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Hyderabad last week was found dead on the railway tracks near Warangal Thursday morning.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said the suspect appeared to have committed suicide by jumping in front of Hyderabad-bound Konark Express. “The tattoos on the hand of the deceased suggest that it is the suspect, Pallakonda Raju, who we have been looking for in the case of rape and strangulation of a child. A post-mortem is being conducted, which will reveal the exact cause of death,’’ he said.

The rape and murder on September 9 had triggered outrage in the city with people demanding immediate police action to arrest Raju.

On Tuesday, Labour Minister C Malla Reddy said the accused should be killed in an encounter. “What he has done is terrible. He should not be let go. He should be encountered,” he said.

Several politicians, film stars and activists, who visited the girl’s family to console, had also expressed outrage over the incident.

Hyderabad Police had faced criticism for solely relying on technical evidence such as CCTV footage or mobile phone location to try and solve the case, without being able to gather human intelligence on the whereabouts of the suspect. The police had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for any information leading to the arrest of Raju.

After the recovery of the suspect’s body on Thursday, Telangana IT Minister K T Rama Rao tweeted: “Just been informed by @TelanganaDGP Garu that the beast who raped the child has been traced & found dead on a railway track at station Ghanpur.”

 

Raju, described by the police as a daily-wage worker and vagabond, is suspected to have lured the girl to his room where he allegedly raped and strangled her to death. The girl’s body was found in the room, wrapped in a blanket, by her family members who were searching for her.

The police then launched a massive manhunt for Raju. They circulated his photo after he was seen on CCTV along with another person, who was detained and questioned but there was no breakthrough. This person told the police that he had met him only on that day and that he did not see him again.

Early on Thursday, the railway police found a body near Rajaram Bridge at Ghanpur Station in Warangal district. After comparing Raju’s photos, which were circulated, and matching the tattoos on his arm, they informed the Hyderabad Police.

Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said railway workers out on inspection spotted a man near the tracks but he ran away on seeing them. Later, a farmer informed them that a train had hit a man and his body was lying on the tracks. “This looks to be a clear case of suicide as of now,” Warangal Police Commissioner Tarun Joshi said.

The body was later taken to MGM Hospital at Warangal for post-mortem.

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