The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : CBI probe sought into Shail's murder

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 30, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

CBI probe sought into Shail's murder

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, AUG. 29. The Congress MLA, P. Janardhan Reddy, has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the killing of Loknath Shail, a watchman, at the house of the actor, Balakrishna. The City Police Commissioner's announcement that anyone passing on information to the police about the suspects would be rewarded showed that the police were clueless about the culprits, he said.

Mr. Reddy told a news conference here on Sunday that the incident, which took place in the Jubilee Hills area of Khairatabad Assembly constituency represented by him, had sent shock waves in the colonies there. He said he had received several phone calls from residents seeking help in eliminating the fear that has surrounded the area in the wake of the two recent "criminal activities" in Balakrishna's house.

Doubts over enquiry

Mr. Reddy raised several doubts over the police investigation into the murder of the watchman, Loknath Shail; one of them related to allowing Balakrishna, now on bail, to attend to his routine schedule of shooting and workout at the gymnasium on the day of the murder.

The movement of `sniffer dogs' also raised questions, as they went nowhere near the room from where Rs. 50,000 was allegedly stolen, Mr. Reddy said.

The Commissioner had announced that the robbery was the handiwork of a professional gang but the culprits had not touched the jewellery. The Dobberman at the house had not barked, he said.

Balakrishna's wife claim that she had seen a teenager in the vicinity after the incident was not substantiated, he said, adding that Sohail's body had been hurriedly disposed without giving his family in Orissa an opportunity to take "a last look." These questions could be answered by an impartial probe by the CBI, Mr. Reddy said.

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