Former speaker of Andhra Pradesh Assembly Kodela Siva Prasada Rao was found dead under suspicious circumstances at his residence here on Monday.
Joint Commissioner of Police (West Zone) A.R. Srinivas said the 72-year-old politician was suspected to have committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan at his residence in Banjara Hills. He was taken to Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital, where doctored declared him dead.
“After attending on him for more than an hour, doctors pronounced Rao dead,” Mr. Srinivas said, adding that there was a ligature mark around his neck.
Preliminary inquiries by the police revealed that Rao’s daughter, Vijaya Lakshmi, found him hanging in his bedroom on the first floor of the house. Based on Vijaya Lakshmi’s complaint, the Banjara Hills police registered a case under section 174 (suspicious death) of the CrPC.
“Around 11 a.m. when Vijaya Lakshmi went to the first floor to inform Rao that she was taking her mother, Kodela Sasikala, to the hospital, she found the doors were bolted from inside and even after repeated knocks there was no response. That was the time she realised that something was amiss and opened the window only to find him in a shocking state,” the Joint Commissioner said.
A senior leader of Telugu Desam Party, Rao, who served as minister in the Cabinets of the late N.T. Rama Rao and N. Chandrababu Naidu, was facing serious allegations of misuse of power. Last month, Rao was hospitalised in Guntur after he suffered a cardiac arrest.
Family members informed the police that for the last few days he was stressed out due to political and family compulsions and that could have forced him to resort to the extreme step.
“So far there is no suspicion. We have to wait for the autopsy report to know the cause of death,” the officer said.
When asked as to with whom he spoke last, Mr. Srinivas said around 8.30 a.m. Rao spoke to someone over the phone and they are verifying it. “Apart from his wife and daughter, domestic helps and security personnel were present in his house when the incident came to light,” he said.
Later in the day, Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar said that a team of doctors conducted a post-mortem examination of the former Assembly Speaker at Osmania General Hospital morgue and the proceedings were video recorded. “As per our request, the doctors have video recorded the autopsy and Banjara Hills ACP K.S. Rao is the investigating officers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of Basavatarakam hospital, Dr. R.V. Prabhakara Rao said the victim was brought to the hospital at 11.35 a.m. in an ‘unresponsive’ state. “As per protocol, resuscitative measures were initiated immediately. Despite the best efforts of the medical team, Rao could not be revived and was declared dead at 12.39 p.m.,” he said in a release.
Rao’s body was shifted to TDP headquarters here after post-mortem.
(People with suicidal tendency can dial Roshni helpline no. +914066202000 for counselling)
