Though Pallakonda Raju, the 30-year-old rape-and-murder suspect, managed to evade electronic surveillance and police vigil for almost a week, he finally landed in the eye of a circumspect railway keyman and two farmers near Naskhal railway station in Jangaon district on Thursday morning. Minutes later he allegedly ended his life.
While the eyewitnesses recapitulated that upon seeing them Raju ran and hid in the bushes, and later he came running towards the Konark Express. All this happened in a split second.
Before they could reconcile what was happening, he was killed by the train. The incident took place around 8.40 a.m.
According to keyman Kumar, he along with another keyman Sarangapani met at bridge number 309/53 and were proceeding to work when they noticed a man running into the bushes on seeing them. “We waited at the bridge for nearly 10 minutes assuming he would come out of the bushes. But, when there was no movement we went back to work,” he said.
After they walked for nearly 200 metres, Kumar and Sarangapani heard nearby farmers shouting about a man jumping before Konark Express and rushed to the spot. “Going by the features and two tattoos on his hands, we could confirm that he was the same person who raped,” Mr. Kumar said.
Further, with the hope to get the announced cash reward of ₹10 lakh, keyman Sarangapani alerted police on Dial 100. “Soon they came here, confirmed that it was Raju’s body and started the procedure,” he said.
A farmer who was an eyewitness to the incident recollected the suspicious movements of a man, looking like the ‘Wanted’ rape-and-murder suspect while the train was chugging its way very fast. “We started yelling asking the man not to move further... Then we immediately informed the keyman passing by,” Suresh said. The farmer was on his way to his agricultural fields to spray pesticides when he noticed a man moving on the railway track and hiding in the bushes.
Meanwhile, Warangal Commissioner of Police Tarun Joshi said that they were verifying on how and from where Raju reached the railway track. “There is no proper route to reach railway track. Will examine the CCTV cameras in the route. He could have come by train and got down at Station Ghanpur,” he said, adding that eyewitnesses tried to stop him. Police suspect that Raju could have walked on the track before ending his life by jumping in front of running train.
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