HYDERABAD: Telangana high court on Thursday sought a status report by March 1 on the investigation into the brutal murder of the lawyer couple. The judges sent notices to the home secretary, DGP, Ramagundam police commissioner and station house officer of Peddapalli, asking them to file counters on the killings.
Taking a suo motu note of the killing of Gattu Vaman Rao and Nagamani in Peddapalli, the bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy said they were shocked by the brazen manner in which the murderous attack was carried out. “You (the state government) have to explain a lot of things in the days to come,” the judges said while addressing advocate general BS Prasad. Stating that the situation was grim, the judges demanded immediate action. “Nothing should be missed by police. The probe should be done with complete promptitude,” they said.
Vaman Rao and Nagamani, both practising advocates, were hacked to death near Peddapalli under Ramagundam police commissionerate on Wednesday afternoon.The judges said: “We are ruled by law. Nobody should be allowed to take the law into their hands. The credibility of the state government now rests at the way it deals with the case.”
Referring to videos in which Rao, before succumbing to his injuries, named his killers, the judges said: “Needless to mention, collect all relevant evidence from the scene of the offence. We do not want to hear about any lapses on the part of investigators.”Referring to the presence of two RTC buses with passengers at the scene, the judges suggested the investigators could take some of them as witnesses. When advocate Shravanth Shankar sought a thorough probe, the judges told him they know which way to go. Letting authorities know they did come across the video of Rao wherein he named the man who killed him, judges said they want all such evidence to go through process of authentication and made ready for speedy trial.
AG assured court that the government is viewing the case seriously and said assailants would be brought to justice.