Hyderabad: A man found dead on the railway track in Hyderabad is suspected to be a rape accused in the six-year-old rape and murder case which was reported on September 9. The police alleged it as a suicide and said the man was believed to be Pallakonda Raju, who had been missing since the child’s body was found inside his home on Sunday.
“We have reasons to think it is the suspect – tattoo marks on hands, name tattooed on his hand, his hairstyle…A fingerprint analysis will confirm it,” the Hyderabad police chief said. The Telangana police shared images of the man’s body on Twitter. Though the body has yet to be identified, the police said he had the same tattoos as the rape-murder suspect.
News of the death comes two days after Telangana Minister Malla Reddy’s comment that the accused “will be killed in an encounter”.
Police were on a manhunt for the main culprit Pallakonda Raju, since yesterday. Police commissioner Anjani Kumar had even announced a reward of Rs. 10 lakh for information leading to the arrest of Raju.
The girl went missing from her home in Singareni Colony in Hyderabad on September 9 (Thursday). Her body was found in the house of the neighbour the next day, wrapped in a bedsheet. An autopsy confirmed that she was sexually assaulted and strangled.
Initial reports had said the accused had been arrested. But when it emerged that the information was false, there were massive protests and tension in the area, with residents of the colony demanding justice for the girl and her family. Some even demanded “an encounter”, referring to criminals shot dead by the police
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