Published Sep 25, 2026 | 2:25 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 25, 2026 | 2:41 PM
Gade Saikrishna and Cheekati Gopi
Synopsis: The controversies this year began with the case of Gade Saikrishna. A series of custodial deaths and cases involving alleged police torture and harassment across Andhra Pradesh has since drawn the attention of the High Court and Supreme Court, with an SIT also probing the death of Cheekati Gopi.
Certain incidents and court cases that have surfaced in Andhra Pradesh within a span of a few months are raising serious questions about the law and order situation in the state. While the Gade Saikrishna case in Vijayawada reached the Supreme Court, the Perupogu Kranthi Kumar matter reached the High Court.
In Saikrishna’s case, the Supreme Court on September 23 expressed concerns regarding the alleged negligence on the part of the Andhra Pradesh police and said it will directly monitor the investigation. The top Court also stayed all ongoing proceedings related to the case in the Andhra Pradesh High Court until it concludes the hearing of the petitions.
A day later, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) began its investigation into the death of Cheekati Gopi from Tadikonda. Although the police initially declined to investigate the matter, the government ordered the formation of an SIT following protests led by Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS) president Manda Krishna Madiga.
Incidents of illegal police detention, custodial torture, and lockup deaths have sparked discussion over what is happening in Andhra Pradesh. For several months, cases have surfaced where suspects were taken into custody under the pretext of questioning, detained illegally in violation of Supreme Court guidelines, and lost their lives due to severe injuries sustained during third-degree interrogation. Even though both the High Court and the Supreme Court intervened in these cases and made sharp remarks regarding the manner of investigation, there has been no halt to such occurrences.
Saikrishna, who was taken into custody by the Vijayawada Task Force police in Markapuram on May 6, was handed over to the Krishnalanka police.
The SIT chargesheet stated that he died in an abandoned building in Ranigarithota on May 12 after being subjected to severe torture.
The SIT revealed that the police themselves transported the body to the Swargapuri crematorium in Vijayawada and cremated it that same night. These details came to light after Saikrishna’s mother filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court on June 4 regarding this case.
Suspended Krishnalanka Circle Inspector (CI) Nagaraju was arrested by the SIT and remanded to judicial custody in connection with Sai Krishna’s custodial death.
Just ten days after the lockup death of Gade Saikrishna, allegations surfaced that the police abetted the suicide of another youth in Ranigarithota.
Unable to bear the harassment by the police, Perupogu Kranthi Kumar, the son of MRPS leader Venkateswara Rao, committed suicide on May 21. In a selfie video recorded before his death, he stated that he was taking his own life because he could not bear the harassment. The police officer accused of harassment was again CI Nagaraju.
This video came to light at a time when an uproar over Saikrishna’s disappearance was already raging. Hearings are currently underway on petitions filed in the High Court alleging that the investigation into this case is being diluted. The High Court expressed anger over the conduct of the police.
On June 1, 2026, a woman named Mala Gangamma died in police custody in Adoni of Kurnool district. Allegations arose that Mala Gangamma died after being subjected to severe torture by the police during the investigation of her son’s disappearance, and that the body was cremated without being handed over to relatives. The High Court directed that the statement of Dargappa, a key witness in this case, be recorded before a magistrate.
In Piduguralla of Palnadu district, a government employee named Shaik Dariya Hussain committed suicide in July 2026. In a suicide note, he cited police harassment. He stated that he was committing suicide unable to bear police harassment stemming from a land dispute. The police, however, denied these allegations. Hussain’s statement in the letter that the local CI and SI threatened to frame him in ganja cases and harassed him by repeatedly summoning him to the station triggered intense discussion in government circles.
In July 2026, Bollu Edukondalu, hailing from Munubolu in Nellore district, died in police custody. His family alleged that he died due to police torture. The police, however, maintained that he died only after being released from their custody. This case was registered as a suspicious death.
A youth named Cheekati Gopi from Tadikonda in Guntur district fell ill while in police custody and died. Allegations emerged that he died due to police torture, which the police denied. Following an agitation led by MRPS president Manda Krishna, an SIT commenced an investigation into the case on September 24.
The police initiated the SIT probe after an eyewitness named Gopi Krishna, who was detained alongside the deceased Cheekati Gopi, revealed that he and Gopi were subjected to severe torture by the police.
The sequence of controversies this year began with the case of Gade Saikrishna.
There are allegations that it has become commonplace in all regions of the state for police to subject suspects to torture in the name of questioning.
And there are allegations that when suspects die, cases are manipulated, eyewitnesses are threatened, and efforts are made to block complaints from being filed.
Despite widespread criticism, there have been few concrete efforts to curb such incidents. While the conduct of the AP police is drawing criticism at the national level, there has been no change in the mindset of the police.
As concern mounts over individuals losing their lives to violence during criminal investigations, the CPM-affiliated Kula Vivaksha Vyatireka Porata Samithi (KVPS) filed a complaint seeking the intervention of the AP SC Commission. The organisation submitted details to the Commission listing individuals across the state who lost their lives during police interrogation. KVPS president Andra Malyadri alleged that the majority of those who died due to police harassment belong to the Dalit community. What will be done going forward remains to be seen.
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Even a dead worker’s family wasn’t spared: The decline and fall of Telangana’s police
(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
