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Tribal boy killed in school, Andhra cops launch manhunt for two
Police have launched a manhunt for two unknown miscreants who abducted a nine-year-old tribal boy from his hostel room, strangled him and dumped his body on the school premises in Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh
Police have launched a manhunt for two unknown miscreants who abducted a nine-year-old tribal boy from his hostel room, strangled him and dumped his body on the school premises in Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh, officers said on Wednesday, adding that a letter threatening more such murders has been recovered from him.
The body of Akhil Vardhan Reddy, a class 4 student at the tribal welfare residential school at Puliramannagudem village in Buttaigudem block, was found around 5.30 am on Tuesday on the school premises, adjacent to the hostel, Eluru superintendent of police (SP) Mary Prashanthi said.
A letter written in Telugu was found in his hand, stating “whoever wants to live, go away from here because these kinds of things will keep happening from now on”, the SP said, adding: “We are verifying the handwriting and inquiring into it.”
Deputy chief minister Peedika Rajanna Dora, who also holds the tribal welfare portfolio, told reporters that the police have launched a manhunt for the accused. Dora, who visited the residential school and hostel on Wednesday, said the police were investigating the case from all angles. “We shall ensure that the accused get the stringent punishment,” he added.
There were contusion marks around the boy’s neck, indicating he might have been strangulated, besides scratches near the right eye, the SP said.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the boy, who belonged to the Konda Reddy tribe, went to sleep as usual in the dormitory hall of the hostel along with 10 other students on Monday night. At around midnight, one of the accused entered the room through the window, which had no grills, and opened the latch of the main door to facilitate another person entering the room, the officer said.
Before entering the hostel, they switched off the power supply. “They carried the boy away. One of the students sleeping in the room noticed them, but did not alert others out of fear,” the SP said.
Neither the warden nor the watchman was present in the hostel at the time of the incident, the officer said. “On Tuesday morning, the hostel inmates noticed the boy’s body on the school premises,” she added.
The deceased boy’s elder brother Harshavardhan Reddy is also enrolled in the same school in class 6. Their parents — father Gogula Srinivas Reddy, a village volunteer, and mother Ramalakshmi, a health worker — told the police that they did not have enmity with anyone.
The Buttaigudem police have registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against two unidentified miscreants. Special teams have been formed to investigate the case, the SP said.
Eluru tribal welfare department has initiated disciplinary action against hostel staff, including deputy warden K Srinivas and night warden M Rajesh for their negligence. “Show-cause notices will be issued to the school staff,” department’s deputy director SVS Naidu said.
Meanwhile, minister Dora handed over a cheque for ₹10 lakh as ex gratia to the parents of the deceased. “We shall provide a job to the boy’s father in a government department on outsourcing basis and allot a housing plot to the family,” he added.
