Deputy Superintendent of Police Dasari Ravi Babu, the prime accused in the alleged murder case of rowdy-sheeter Kopperla Satyanarayana Raju alias Gedela Raju, may be named as an accused in another case, if the police take up the investigation of the mysterious death of one Kakara Padmalatha, daughter of former Payakraopeta MLA Kakara Nookaraju.
The main reason for hiring contract killers to bump off Gedela Raju was that the rowdy-sheeter was blackmailing the police officer over the contract payment for reportedly getting rid of Padmalatha.
The former MLA’s daughter had filed a complaint some time in 2016 alleging that Ravi Babu had an affair with her and promised to marry her and later disowned her. Based on the complaint filed, the police officer who was then the ACP of Madhurwada was suspended.
To get rid of Padmalatha, the police officer had reportedly used the services of Gedela Raju to get rid of her and she had died under mysterious circumstances in November 2016.
According to the Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) D. Nagendra Kumar, the DSP had agreed to pay Gedela Raju ₹1 crore for the job and he had paid only ₹50 lakh.
“We are investigating that angle and on what circumstances did Padmalatha die. There are some clues and we have to work on them. If the death of Padmalatha is established as a murder then the DSP will be charged with a double murder case,” he said.
Gedela Raju was allegedly killed by nine contract killers on October 6 at the office of ‘Kshatriya Bheri’ a local Telugu Daily. The Editor and the MD of the publication house Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Raju is the other main accused in the case. Later, the body was transported to an isolated spot at Galli Bheemavaram under Sabbavaram police station limits and burnt to wipe out evidences.
The charred body was found later by the police and identified to be that of Gedela Raju.
ACB angle
Sources in the police say that with the amount of money being involved, the ACB should also take up investigation to ascertain the disproportionate assets amassed by the police officer to his known sources of income.
