Vikram Goud Arrested, Remanded To 14-Day Judicial Custody

Young Congress leader and son of former minister Mukesh Goud, Vikram Goud, was on Thursday remanded to a 14-day judicial custody after he was arrested in connection with the allegedly stage-managed shoot-out drama in which he sustained bullet injuries in the early hours of July 28.

Vikram Goud, who was undergoing treatment in Apollo Hospital for the last one week, was discharged by the doctors, who after an examination declared that his condition was stable. The police immediately arrested him.

The police, who investigated the case thoroughly soon after the incident by forming as many as ten teams to unravel the mystery surrounding the incident, claime to have succeeded in unveiling the true facts after effecting the arrests of some suspects.

After meticulous probing, the police came to the conclusion that the shooting was nothing but a stage-managed drama enacted by Goud in order to gain the sympathy of family, friends and the general public besides to wriggle out from the clutches of his creditors, who were pressurizing him to return the money borrowed from them.

As many as eight persons were named as accused in the case, including Goud, who was named as A1.

While Goud was arrested today, five others had been taken into custody earlier, and a hunt is on to trace two others connected in the case.

The country-made pistol used in the shooting was recovered from the lake in Hakeempet where it was dumped after the incident.

Though the family members of the Congress leader were against his arrest as he had not fully recovered with a bullet still embedded in his body, when the Apollo doctors discharged him from the hospital, he was arrested and straightaway taken in a police van to the Nampally court. At the court, he was put in a wheel chair and produced before the magistrate.

Goud's counsel Umamaheshwar Rao argued before the court opposing his client being remanded since he was yet to fully recover. He also reminded the court that a bullet was still embedded near Goud's spine and hence the latter was facing severe pain.

He pleaded that his client be allowed to undergo medical treatment in the hospital under the strict surveillance of the police.

However, based on the public prosecutor's arguments and the medical records from the hospital produced as evidence, the court remanded Goud to 14 days' judicial custody.

The court at the same time directed that if the accused needed any medical attention he may be treated by admitting him in either Osmania or Gandhi Hospital.

The counsel for Goud immediately filed a bail petition in the court.

Meanwhile, the Banjara Hills police, who are investigating the case, seized the posh BMW car belonging to Goud.

The shooting incident that created a sensation all over the state thus ended with the ambitious young politician cooling his heels behind bars.