Absconding accused in Sai Krishna alleged custodial death case surrenders before SIT

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Investigating officials at the Krishnalanka police station in Vijayawada during the probe into the alleged custodial death of Gade Sai Krishna. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

An accused in the alleged custodial death case of Gade Sai Krishna, Suresh, who had been absconding for the last few months, surrendered before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Thursday (September 17, 2026).

Suresh, who has been named accused number four in the case, is a close associate of suspended Krishnalanka Circle Inspector S.S.V.V. Nagaraju, also an accused in the case.

The SIT, which is investigating the alleged custodial death, had earlier arrested the Circle Inspector, four constables and a home guard of the Krishnalanka police station and launched a hunt for Suresh.

Sai Krishna, 25, went missing after he was allegedly taken into custody by the Krishnalanka police on May 9. His mother, G. Vijaya Lakshmi, moved the High Court with a habeas corpus petition alleging that Mr. Nagaraju had tortured her son to death and that the police had disposed of the body. It has not been found.

The SIT told a magistrate’s court that staff of the police station had destroyed evidence, deleting the station’s CCTV footage and other digital records. Two of the accused told investigators they had sold their mobile phones in Nagpur.

Mr. Nagaraju was separately booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and for abetment of suicide after Perupogu Kranthi Kumar, a Vijayawada resident, took his life on May 21, having recorded a video alleging harassment by the Circle Inspector and his staff.

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