YSRC MLC Anantha Bhaskar faces ire over driver\'s death

KAKINADA: YSRC MLC Anantha Bhaskar faced public ire after he was accused on Friday of killing his ex-car driver Veedhi Subrahmanyam (24).

The MLC carried the body of Subrahmanyam in his car to the driver’s home late on Thursday night, left it and the car there and fled to escape the ire of the family members and the public. The MLC claimed it was an accidental death.

According to the parents and wife of Subrahmanyam, the MLC came to their home around 8.30 pm and took the driver away in his car saying his birthday was being celebrated.

By 10 pm, Subrahmanyam’s mother called him. He told her he would return within an hour. By 11.50 pm, MLC Bhaskar phoned the brother of Subrahmayam and said that the driver had met with an accident and was taken to a hospital.

By 1.30 am on Friday, the MLC called the brother again, asking him to come to a private hospital near Janmabhoomi Park. When the brother reached the hospital, Subrahmanyam’s body was found in the back seat of the MLC’s car. Bhaskar said the doctors declared him dead.

Subrahmanyam’s brother refused to take the body. Bhaskar carried the body in the car to the family which resides in an apartment near Vivekananda Park in Kakinada.

The body was taken to G. Mamidada village, the native place of the parents, to perform the last rites without a post-mortem.

“Subrahmanyam was murdered in a most brutal manner by breaking his hands and legs and then drowning him in the sea. The body was covered with sand and it was badly bruised,” the family said.

The mother and wife of Subrahmanyam demanded an explanation as to how he had died, but the MLC only told them in vague terms that he had met with an accident. A crowd began gathering there. Sensing trouble, the MLC left his car and escaped.

The police arrived on the scene and wanted the family to hand over the body to them. The family refused to do so. They alleged that Subrahmanyam was killed by the MLC. The police used force to scatter the relatives, took possession of the body and shifted it to the Government General Hospital mortuary.

The mother and wife of Subrahmanyam said he owed the MLC Rs 70,000 and had paid back Rs 50,000. Subrahmanyam had quit as the driver three months ago and there was pressure from the MLC to repay the money.

Two Town circle inspector Ramachandra Rao told Deccan Chronicle that Subrahmanyam went with Bhaskar and consumed liquor. Then he went out to bring tiffin for the MLC. “When he did not come back, Bhaskar’s followers went in search of him and noticed that he met with an accident,” as per information they got from the MLC. 

The Sarpavaram police registered a case under section 107 citing suspicious death.