Investigation into 166 cases related to slain gangster Nayeemuddin alias Nayeem and his associates is going to be a long-drawn process, and that is likely to turn advantageous to some of the accused.
Chintala Venkateshwar Reddy, leader of ruling TRS party from Bhongir of newly created Yadadri district, had already secured anticipatory bail in a criminal case registered against him. Already, a municipal counsellor of Bhongir accused of involvement in the same case too secured anticipatory bail.
Everyone- especially police- know better whether an accused can influence witnesses, complainants or even investigators in a case if he or she secures bail. “101 persons were arrested in 166 cases registered so far involving Nayeem and his gang. Strangely, Mr. Reddy was not arrested for reasons best known to police,” says a businessman, one of Nayeem’s extortion victims, seeking anonymity.
It is not just Mr. Reddy, TRS MLC Nethi Vidyasagar, whose name also cropped up in a First Information Report (FIR) relating to extortion of Rs. 50 lakh at gunpoint, was not interrogated let alone arrested. Similarly, two persons were arrested in three criminal cases registered in Karimnagar district.
Interestingly, names of some lawyers and others were mentioned in these FIRs.
Barring arrest of two persons, the police didn’t even examine the other accused in the three cases.
Others are also planning to move the High Court seeking to issue directions to the police to quash the FIRs. “Investigators may not accept but delay in interrogation of the accused and filing charge-sheet is giving them the leeway to approach courts to avoid the long arm of law,” says Ranga Rao, one of Nayeem’s victims from Karimnagar district.
It had been more than three months since the naxalite renegade turned gangster was killed in an exchange of fire with the police on the fringes of Shadnagar, 50 km from here. What was initially believed to be ‘neutralisation’ of a police-foe-turned-friend eventually turned into a complex crime cobweb of gigantic portions when police parties searched his massive building in an up-scale locality of Narsingi.
As similar raids were conducted in different parts of Telangana resulting in seizure of huge sums of cash, documents, arms and ammunition and arrest of his accomplices, the Government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe all cases related to Nayeem and his gang. All that the SIT could do in three months is file charge-sheet in not more than five cases.
That indicates it takes a few more months to complete investigation in the remaining 160-odd cases while the accused get time to find ways and means to escape from the charges.
