Probe points fingers at her friend

GUNTUR: Even as the family of A Jyothi, who was murdered on the outskirts of Mangalagiri on Monday night, continued fight for justice, the police are still clueless about the identity of the killers. Though her friend Ch Srinivas continues to be the suspect, investigators said it will take a couple of days more for them to arrive at any conclusion.

Sources said Srinivas may have stage-managed the attack on himself after killing Jyothi following an altercation. “It could be even a pre-planned one as the victim was killed in a secluded place,’’ an investigator said, adding that the involvement of more persons in the murder could not be ruled out.
After Mangalagiri police drew flak from public for botching up investigation and the issue slowly gained political colour, senior officials stepped in to investigate the brutal murder of the girl. It is learnt that Guntur Urban SP Ch Vijaya Rao personally questioned Srinivas.

The family of Jyothi on Friday staged a protest at the collectorate in Guntur demanding that the culprits be brought to book. They demanded action against those involved in the probe and also the doctors who allegedly failed to conduct a proper post-mortem. It may be recalled that Jyothi’s body had to be exhumed for a re-postmortem after the forensic officials and police did not take her blood-stained clothes.
In a related development, Mangalagiri DSP G Ramakrishna was detached from probing the murder and another DSP rank official Harirajendranath Babu was appointed as new investigation officer.