Bhongir police will move the Nalgonda district court on Monday to seek the custody of Marri Srinivas Reddy, the sole accused in killings of teenage girls that surfaced last week here in Hajipur village.
The serial killings, which are suspected to have started in April 2015, came to light only last week with the exhumation of a 14-year-old girl on April 26, a day after she went missing. Three days later, the body of an 18-year-old was exhumed, a month after she had gone missing.
Police announced the accused’s arrest on April 30, even as it performed exhumation for a third victim, and produced him before the Bhongir Court the next day. Accused Srinivas Reddy is presently in judicial custody at Warangal prison.
Transfer of custody
According to sources at the prison office, the investigating police had served notice to the accused on Friday, informing him of his proposed transfer from judicial to police custody for further interrogation. Senior police officials confirmed the move. However, it is yet to file an application with the Additional District Judge in Nalgonda seeking custody of the accused. This is slated for Monday.
Court officials suggested, in general practice, the accused or his counsel may file a counter, followed by hearing, and finally, the judge would order several days of police custody based on merit.
Speaking to The Hindu, investigation officer ACP Bhujanga Rao said it was seeking police custody of Srinivas Reddy “only for five days now, and it will be strictly confined to investigation of the 14-year-old’s murder (the tip of the common thread).”
The officer suggested they would re-apply for custody in future, for separate incidents as required.
No more bodies
And as speculated by media, another officer said investigations so far reveal the accused does not have more victims in Bhongir limits. He added that all missing complaints, wherever the accused lived or worked, were verified, and social media accounts and version of co-workers, friends and villagers were also scrutinised.
The police, however, said they did not talk to Srinivas Reddy’s family, which went incommunicado on April 29 afternoon, as they are “not important to the case”.