Mobile court records statements in Anantha Babu case

KAKINADA: Special Mobile Court magistrate Ch. Janaki on Saturday recorded testimony of 11 witnesses under section 164 in the murder of Dalit youth Veedhi Subrahmanyam, former car driver of YSRC MLC Anantha Udaya Bhaskar alias Anantha Babu.

Three of these witnesses are those who saw the MLC take Veedhi Subrahmanyam in his car. Four comprised family members – the deceased’s father Satyanarayana, mother Nooka Ratnam, wife Aparna and brother Naveen. Three others witnesses saw the MLC hand over the body and flee from the spot. The last witness is the doctor of a private hospital who declared Subrahmanyam dead.

Earlier, AP Civil Liberties Association (APCLA) state president and senior advocate Muppala Subba Rao, who is arguing on behalf of the victims, told reporters here that police are sparing no efforts to save the accused MLC even though human rights and people’s organisations are doing their best to bring the MLC to book and do justice to Subrahmanyam’s family.

Subba Rao said there are many loopholes in investigation by police. Police responded only after he submitted a 58-page document to Human Rights Commission in Subrahmanyam’s murder case. They did not even file a counter opposing the bail petition of Anantha Babu.

The lawyer said as the victims have no confidence in police investigation, they have sought a CBI probe into the case. He demanded that YSRC leadership, in particular Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, suspend Anantha Babu as MLC based on his previous criminal history.

Additional superintendent of police P. Srinivas has, however, taken exception to the statement of Muppala Subba Rao. He said as the matter is sub-judice, it is not proper to make such comments against police. He maintained that police are conducting an impartial inquiry. All evidence and the inquiry report will be submitted to the court. Even while the process is going on, it is not justifiable to attribute motives to police, he remarked.