A division bench of the Telangana High Court today held another hearing of the
Peddapalli double murder, where advocates Gattu Vaman Rao and P V Nagamani were brutally murdered in broad daylight last month.
During the hearing, it made clear its belief that there was no need to hand over the investigation to CBI as it was being directly supervised by the apex court itself. The bench added that it understood the pain of Vaman Rao's father, and was as invested as the latter in exposing the truth, and apprehending and punishing those responsible for the two dastardly killings in a timely manner. It also said that the investigation in the case had been proceeding in an organised and efficient manner, thus neutralising the need for the transfer.
"The case is being handled appropriately already. Transferring it to the CBI will waste precious time that can be used to solve the case and punish those behind it," the bench stated.
(Its clarification comes after leaders of the Congress in the state have repeatedly demanded that
a court-monitored CBI investigation be ordered to find the culprits, alleging that the local police are unlikely to carry out a fair and neutral trial as they are being pressurised by powerful individuals involved in the matter to sweep it under the rug.)
During the hearing, the police told the court that they had interrogated 25 witnesses in the case so far, and that they had also seized the weapons used by
the accused to murder the couple. Further, they informed the court that they had sent the CCTV footage and mobile phone videos for forensic testing and further examination.
The court then scheduled the next hearing to April 7.
The state's apex court had earlier taken suo moto cognisance of the advocates' deaths, and had directed the state government to submit
a comprehensive status report on the investigation of the incident.