Appu nabbed in excise case in Chittoor

He was an accused in the Sankararaman murder case

Appu, who was one of the key accused in the 2002 Sankararaman murder case and who has since been acquitted, is undergoing treatment for multiple ailments at the Government General Hospital here for the last two days under tight police security.

Kamasani Gopalakrishna Swami alias Appu (59) from Chennai was arrested by the CBCID police in Tirupati on Friday in connection with excise crimes in Nellore during the general elections in May this year.

The CBCID Court in Chittoor remanded him to judicial custody till December 12. On Saturday, he was admitted to the hospital with health problems. An armed police party has been posted at the special ward.

Cancer

Chittoor jail superintendent M. Lakshmi Narsimha told

The Hindu that Appu was lodged in the prison for four crimes under the A.P. Excise Act 1968 (Section 34A). “Appu was sent to hospital on Saturday for treatment of cancer and other health problems,” he said.

Additional Superintendent of Police (Red sanders operations) V. Ratna said that Appu carried two cases of red sanders smuggling from Chittoor district. DSP (Task Force - Tirupati) Ravi Kumar said that Appu was involved in two cases of red sanders smuggling at Ramachandrapuram and Srikalahasti mandals in recent months.

“As of now, he is absconding as per our records.

“We will verify the records again, and will take steps to arrest him in these cases,” the official said.

Meanwhile, a senior police official observed that Appu was a notorious person in the police records of Tamil Nadu and that his links with the red sanders mafia would throw more light on further investigations in Tamil Nadu and in South East Asian countries. His arrest and later developments were kept a secret due to security reasons, he said.