4 min readHyderabadUpdated: Jun 20, 2026 05:24 AM IST
A murder case has been registered against a suspended inspector in connection with the disappearance of 24-year-old Gade Sai Krishna in Vijayawada.
The FIR was registered after the Andhra Pradesh High Court directed Vijayawada Police to produce Krishnalanka Circle Inspector S V Nagaraju, who was allegedly picked up by the police from Markapuram on May 9, before it by June 22 in a habeas corpus petition filed by his mother, G Vijayalakshmi.
Police sources said Krishna was picked up in connection with two arrest warrants. Krishna, who has several cases against him, had gone into hiding fearing arrest, though he had earlier appeared before police in connection with the cases, an official said.
However, after he was picked up on May 9 evening, police did not produce him before any court. His mother, Vijayalakshmi, said police repeatedly denied he was in their custody.
“I was asked to go to the Krishnalanka Police Station on May 9, where they asked me where Krishna was. They checked my phone also and let me go, and after that I did not see my son again. I went to Krishnalanka Police Station on May 11. I knew that my son was there but Inspector Nagaraju did not let me meet him. He abused me and asked me to leave. I appealed to senior police officers too but they simply brushed me off, saying that he was not in police custody,” Vijayalakshmi told The Indian Express.
After she filed the habeas corpus petition on June 4, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed Vijayawada Police to conduct an inquiry and submit a report.
Following an appeal by Vijayalakshmi to Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan, the government Wednesday shifted Nagaraju to a vacant reserve post and later suspended him.
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On Thursday night, Vijayawada Police Commissioner S V Rajashekara Babu directed Krishnalanka Police Station to register an FIR against Nagaraju under BNS Sections 103(1) (murder), 238, 127(4) and 127(6). Assistant Commissioner of Police Daiva Prasad has been appointed investigating officer. The Police Commissioner said details would be released after the probe.
Krishna’s mother has appealed to the court and police to release her son if he is alive, hand over his body if he is dead, or give her his ashes if he was cremated after the alleged custodial death.
“Give me some closure; it has been mental torture for me since he went missing over a month ago. I haven’t slept or eaten properly. Either give me his body or his ashes,” she said.
She has alleged that her son was tortured by police personnel, died of his injuries and was secretly cremated.
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“She fears the worst has happened, that he was tortured to death by police and the body disposed of,” said advocate K V Aditya Chowdary, who represents Vijayalakshmi.
The High Court had initially directed the SHO of Krishnalanka Police Station to produce Krishna by June 15. However, Advocate General D Srinivas, appearing for the police, told the court that Krishna’s whereabouts were unknown and that he was not in police custody.
The case has since snowballed into a political controversy, with the YSRCP demanding the release of CCTV footage from the police station.
Former chief minister and YSRCP president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has sought a CBI probe into the alleged custodial death and action against all those responsible.
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Jagan alleged the case involved not only the suspended inspector but also senior police officials, including the Vijayawada Police Commissioner and the State DGP.
After visiting Sai Krishna’s residence in Krishnalanka, Jagan said the incident had exposed the alarming state of law and order in Andhra Pradesh and alleged that attempts were being made to portray Sai Krishna as a mafia don or rowdy after his death.
