Vemula Prasad was the eldest of the three sons of Venkataiah and Yadamma of Pochampally village in Gurrampode mandal. An introvert by nature, he was decent at studies and did not bother anyone, say his classmates.
At 20-years-old, he was in first year B.Sc at Deepthi Paramedical Institute in Nalgonda as he was forced to drop out of studies during the pendency of a case against him, which was eventually dismissed and he was acquitted.
As a 15-years-old, he was booked by Chandur Police in Nalgonda in May 2012, for a property offence — theft of a motorcycle. As a minor, he was sent to an observation home, the police said. During the trial period, he dropped out of college and did petty jobs at a mechanic workshop and other places.
After he was acquitted in February 2016, he went back to college to begin life afresh, Srinivas, who was Prasad’s teacher in primary school and a resident of the same village, said. “He wouldn’t even taste the traditional toddy,” he said.
According to locals, the family was very upset after the police visited the house. “They had a feeling that the criminal tag would remain forever and he would not get a job or be able to make use of his education.”
A senior police officer in the district, while observing the objectives and benefits of the survey said that it was the first time the police was collecting such details — fingerprints, mapping Aadhaar, and geo-tagging houses.
However, it was towards building a robust metadata, to effectively reduce crime and rehabilitate offenders, the officer explained on condition of anonymity.
