Hyderabad police who were on a hunt to nab Srinivas Rao Choudhary alias Guntur Srinu, one of key accused in the alleged kidnap of businessman K. Praveen Rao and his two brothers, located him near Pune in Maharashtra, where he was taking shelter.
But, the fugitive gave the slip and remained untraceable till Tuesday evening. The police have landlocked with surveillance and are pursuing him minute-by-minute. His family members and other contacts are under the constant surveillance of the police.
“By the time we reached the hotel, he managed to escape. We found the photocopy of his identity card submitted at the hotel, and his presence was also recorded in the CCTV cameras there,” an officer associated with the investigation of the case told The Hindu. He said that Srinu will be nabbed in a day or two.
Several teams were sent to Kurnool, Jaggaiahpet, Nandigama in Andhra Pradesh, and even to Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra to ‘weed out’ the accused.
Meanwhile, 10 more persons were taken into custody by the police and were being questioned on the conspiracy and execution of crime and their association with former minister AP Bhuma Akhila Priya Reddy, a prime accused in the case. They were picked up from Goa and other places. Akhila Priya’s brother Jagat Vikhyat Reddy, who is currently at large, is suspected to be one of the key persons in the conspiracy, as police found definitive involvement of the latter. With this the total number of accused may rise 20.
“During investigation, we found clinching evidence on the ‘active role’ of Vikhyat in conspiracy and execution of the kidnap, ” another officer said. Vikhyat, and his sister Bhuma Mounika have been vocal on the alleged kidnap and land dispute ever since their elder sister was arrested. The former minister who was shifted to Begumpet women police station from Chanchalguda prisons for three-day police custody had been denied all the allegations levelled against her. “Despite showing her all the technical evidence , she is denying her role in the kidnap,” the officer said. Police also quizzed her why the land dispute cropped up now.
Akhila Priya is being questioned on her role. Her husband M Bhargav Ram Naidu continued to remain untraceable.
