Hyderabad Police have registered a case of murder against K Venkat, son of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president and Rajya Sabha member K Keshav Rao, after he allegedly shot a realtor at his residence on Sunday.
The victim was 35-year-old B Prashant Reddy, Venkat's close friend and business partner. The Jubilee Hills police booked the case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code after Prashant's father Raghavendra Reddy told them that he suspected that Venkat had killed his son over a land dispute.
Though the incident took place on Sunday afternoon, the police took several hours to act on the complaint lodged by Prashant's father. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Zone) Madhusudhan Reddy said that police were informed about the incident when an emergency ambulance service informed Jubilee Hills police station about it. Prashant was brought dead to Apollo Hospital at 4.25 pm on Sunday.
Prashant's family heard about the incident when Venkat's wife Vijaya called up Prashant's mother Jayasri and told her that her son was in a critical condition. Vijaya initially said that Prashant had injured himself while trying to commit suicide, but later said that he had been grievously injured when a revolver misfired.
Deputy Commissioner of Police N Madhusudhan Reddy and Banjara Hills Assistant Commissioner of Police V Ramakrishna visited Venkat's residence to investigate the matter.
The police team found blood stains on the sofa and on Venkat and Vijaya's clothes.
Vijaya told the police that while she and Venkat were arranging food in the dining hall, Prashant was watching TV in the drawing room. Suddenly, he picked up Venkat's revolver from the rack and shot himself.
Hearing the gunshot, Venkat and Vijaya rushed inside the room and found Prashant lying in a pool of blood. Venkat took Prashant in his car to Apollo Hospital and also admitted himself in the hospital due to shock.
However, Prashant's wife Vilasini alleged that it was a case of murder and the murder scene had been changed to make it look like an accident. Prashant's father said that his son was having problems with his business but he was not a 'coward' and would never commit suicide. Raghavendra Reddy also pointed out that his son possessed a licensed revolver himself and had no reason to use Venkat's weapon to kill himself.
Prashant's family claimed that Venkat had a dispute with him over the ownership of a piece of land and repayment of some amount. On Sunday, Prashant went to Venkat's house and the duo had a heated discussion. Venkat allegedly whipped out his revolver and shot at Prashant at point blank range. Besides Venkat, Vijaya and Prashant, only a servant was present in the house at the time of the incident.
Keshav Rao, who was in Karimnagar alongwith Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, returned in the evening. He went straight to Apollo Hospital, spoke to Prashant's parents and visited his son.
"I want a fair and honest investigation. Let the police examine the evidence and register a case accordingly. On the face of it, it looks like suicide because the victim's temple was scorched which points to the possibility of him shooting himself. But don't go by my version. Let the police complete their investigation," Rao told mediapersons.
Incidentally, this is not the first time that Venkat is in the news for the wrong reasons, In May this year, he had allegedly threatened Arjuna awardee and former Indian volleyball captain V Ravikanth Reddy with a gun. Prashant, who was Reddy's cousin, was a co-accused in the case. The feud was reportedly over a land dispute, but the matter was settled by the two parties later.
