Vijayawada, May 24, 2022: Three days after a Member of Legislative Council (MLC) of ruling YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh handed the body of his former driver to the latter’s family, claiming that he had died in an accident, Kakinada district police on Monday arrested the legislator, Ananta Uday Bhaskar, in connection with the death.
After Bhaskar was taken into custody on Monday morning, Kakinada Range I-G, Pala Raju, questioned him, during which the MLC confessed that he had beaten Subramanyam, the police said.
Kakinada district SP, Ravindra Babu, said that after postmortem concluded that the victim, T Subramanyam, did not die in an accident but was beaten, leading to his death, the FIR was revised from IPC 174 (accidental death) to Section 302 (murder), and Bhaskar was initially detained for interrogation.
The postmortem report indicates 27 injuries on the head, chest, abdomen, hands, and legs, police sources said. While only Bhaskar has been arrested as of now, his associates are also being questioned, sources said.
Sources said Subramanyam was taken to a beach in Kakinada on the night of May 19 and assaulted, with his held down in sand. Bhaskar was sent by a local court to 15-day judicial custody.
According to police, Bhaskar drove to Subramanyam’s home around 2 am on April 20, with the latter’s body in the backseat. He reportedly told the family that he had sent Subramanyam to fetch food the previous evening, when he met with a fatal accident. Confronted by irate family members, Bhaskar fled the scene, the police said.
Bhaskar, sources said, told police that he had sacked Subramanyam from his job about five months ago and the latter subsequently started making allegations against him. Bhaskar told police that Subramanyam was allegedly trying to blackmail him by saying that he would disclose his personal and financial affairs in public according to the reports published in indianexpress.com.
The MLC has told police that he called Subramanyam on the evening of May 19 to talk, but after some time he and his associates assaulted him. Subramanyam died as a result of the assault.
“He is in our custody. Investigation is going on,’’ DIG Raju said, without elaborating further.
The victim’s mother, T Ratnam, said Subramanyam had worked for Bhaskar for five years and was fired nearly five months ago. She also alleged that the MLC was lying that Subramanyam was blackmailing him. “He held a grudge against my son for some reason. We believe he worked for him (Bhaskar) for five years, and knew a lot about his activities. He (Bhaskar) was probably afraid that he (her son) would reveal those…that is why he killed him,’’ she alleged.
A real estate businessman, Bhaskar was nominated to the Legislative Council last year under the elected members’ quota from East Godavari district.
Meanwhile, tension continues to prevail in Kakinada city, with angry family members and relatives, as well as local residents, demanding justice for Subramanyam’s family. Several local organisations, including Dalit associations, have threatened to take their protest to the district collector’s office, seeking justice for the family.
