Vikram’s status may change to ‘suspect’

Needle of suspicion points to victim

The case of attempt on the life of former minister M. Mukesh Goud’s son M. Vikram Goud is likely to get reversed with the ‘victim’ becoming the ‘suspect’.

Instead of penal action against the 'two bike-borne assailants who allegedly fired two rounds' at Vikram as the latter narrated, police sources say he is likely to face the music for misrepresenting facts.

Findings of investigators struggling to unravel the mystery behind the firearm attack on Vikram say the needle of suspicion points to the victim himself rather than others. After collating information and evidence gathered by scores of teams pursuing multiple angles in the case, they surmise there were no attackers from outside. “The allegation that two bike-borne persons barged into his house and fired two rounds at him is not correct,” a police officer closely monitoring the case and unwilling to be identified said on Monday. That raises the crucial question of how did Vikram suffer two bullet wounds on his two upper arms. While one bullet pierced through his right arm, the second one hit his left arm and got embedded inside.

“Though Vikram and his wife Shipali were inside the house when the alleged attack took place, there is a third person who knew about the entire thing,” the investigators said. The person was identified and the hunt was on for him. The said the suspect had the knowledge of the firearm and how it was used to inflict injuries without causing harm to the life of Vikram, police sources said.

CLUES team, ballistic experts and forensic scientists gave their observations to the investigators. They believe a country-made firearm was used in the firing.

Based on Vikram's version, the police tried to reconstruct the crime scene by analysing the position of the attacker, the distance between him and Vikram and the direction of bullets that hit him. “The point where the attacker was said to have stood at the time of opening fire suggests it was unlikely the victim (Vikram) would sustain both wounds on arms only,” a police officer observed. While a First Information Report (FIR) under section 307 of IPC was issued by the Banjara Hills police following statement of Vikram's wife Shipali, now new sections are likely to be added in the case.