Days after a minister in the TRS government warned that he will die of an “encounter” the main accused in the rape and murder case of six-year-old girl in Saidabad area of Hyderabad was found dead on a railway track at Ghanpur in Jangaon district. According to police Pallakonda Raju (30) who was on the run for a week now, jumped in front of the Hyderabad bound Konark Express today morning in a “clear case of suicide.” The dead body with its skull crushed was identified by the tattoo marks on the arms. Politicians, celebrities and common people expressed satisfaction over the end met by the accused with many taking to social media to appreciate the state police and dubbing it as Karma, “justice served” and even “good riddance.” The Hyderabad police had formed nine teams to trace him apart from releasing his images and announcing a reward of Rs10 lakhs for information about his whereabouts. Posters with his images were put up everywhere. The state government and the police faced a lot of heat over the heinous crime against a minor who belonged to a Dalit family. According to police commissioner of Warangal Tarun Joshi the commissionerate received a dial-100 call at 9:58 a team led by a sub inspector reached the spot immediately. “We had all the details, his identity mark, his background, clothes and other features. So we compared and found this was the same fellow Raju who was involved in the offence at Hyderabad.” “A railway employee who was involved in checking the railway track informed that he found this man walking on the tracks and tried to get him out of the track but this fellow started running. Meanwhile a train Konark Express to Hyderabad had hit him and he had died on the spot. We have confirmed his identity with the family members. The case is being registered by GRP It is a clear case of suicide as per the eye witness,” said Mr Joshi. After receiving considerable flak over the crime and subsequent goof up by police who had failed to nab him sooner it was Telangana industry minister who informed about the death. “Just been informed by Telangana DGP that the beast who raped the child has been traced and found dead on a railway track at station Ghanpur,” informed KT Rama Rao on Twitter. Mr Rama Rao had earlier been accused of misleading the people when he had tweeted that the accused was nabbed within 48 hours of the crime committed. The victim’s mother had suspected Raju to be the culprit as he too was missing from the house. But the police had allegedly dragged its feet in breaking open the doors of the suspect’s house. As locals had protested demanding justice and were joined by politicians from BJP, Congress, Jana Sena and Telangana YSR party there were demands for another encounter for immediate punishment. A TRS minister Ch Malla Reddy had condemned the crime and had said that the accused will face an encounter. Extrajudicial killings are not new to Telangana or Andhra. In 2019 the four accused in the rape and murder of a veterinary doctor died in a shoot out at the very spot of the incident after they allegedly snatched the arms of policemen while trying to escape during a crime scene reconstruction. A commission set up by Supreme Court is still probing the killings. In the unified state three accused in a case throwing acid on two girls were killed in a shoot out in Warangal. Only a few have spoken out against extrajudicial killings and the need for a trial.

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