Published Sep 05, 2026 | 11:07 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 05, 2026 | 11:25 AM
Sanjush and his Aston Martin (left); his father, Lingamaneni Ramesh, and AP Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan (centre); Bharati Mukhi (right).
Synopsis: Twenty days after Lingamaneni Sanjush’s Aston Martin killed 26-year-old Bharati Mukhi near Inorbit Mall in Madhapur, the chargesheet remains pending. While the police attribute the delay to the Forensic Science Laboratory report not having arrived yet, several questions remain about the proceedings.
Twenty days after Lingamaneni Sanjush’s Aston Martin killed 26-year-old Bharati Mukhi near Inorbit Mall in Madhapur, the chargesheet remains pending. While the police attribute the delay to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report not having arrived yet, several questions continue to swirl around the proceedings.
Sanjush, son of Jana Sena Party Rajya Sabha MP Lingamaneni Ramesh, was caught on camera attempting to flee the scene after his Aston Martin struck and killed Bharati Mukhi outside Inorbit Mall, Madhapur, on 16 August, as she was returning from a lunch break.
The fatal accident set off a wave of online anger over privilege and impunity on Hyderabad’s roads. There were allegations of a media blackout, as videos of the incident were pulled down and several media houses chose not to pursue the story further.
Bharati’s family is from Mayurbhanj in Odisha and depended almost entirely on her income. Speaking to the news agency ANI in the days after the accident, her mother, Anandini, said Bharati had been a bright student who secured an engineering seat after her diploma but couldn’t take it up because of the Covid-19 lockdown. Once the lockdown was lifted, she chose to start working to support her family.
Bharati had worked in Hyderabad for over four years, sending money home for her family’s expenses and her brother’s education. She was the sole breadwinner for a household of five. Her family has also appealed to the government to release any compensation owed to them as soon as possible.
Madhapur ACP Sreedhar told South First that the Motor Vehicle Inspection (MVI) report on the Aston Martin has been filed. The report did not find any technical issues with the car, pointing to a probable human error that caused the accident.
Eyewitness accounts have since suggested the car was travelling at speeds of up to 120 kmph on the crowded stretch opposite the mall, though this has not been officially confirmed by police.
What is still awaited, said Madhapur SHO KV Subba Rao, is the report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). He said this is the reason the chargesheet has not yet been filed.
On the CCTV footage from the spot, Rao said police have accessed it and preserved it as evidence. Yet no visual evidence, official or otherwise, has surfaced in the public domain so far. This is unusual for a case of this scale.
Telangana High Court advocate Teja Vardhan told South First that it was strange that an FSL report was being delayed for this long.
“The FSL reports take a maximum of seven to ten days to arrive, and police can get it easily. So unless there is a better justification, it is odd that it has not come for 20 days,” he said.
On the question of charges, Advocate Teja said the sections eventually invoked will hinge on intent, not just outcome.
“Only three charges are possible: either rash and negligent driving, or culpable homicide, amounting or not amounting to murder. Irrespective of whether the person fled the scene or not, only these sections can be invoked. If he was negligent and a death occurred, it is different. But if he was drunk, and knew an accident could occur, and went on to hurt somebody, that is when culpable homicide would apply,” he said.
Cyberabad police have said Sanjush tested negative for both alcohol and drugs, and have charged him only under Section 106(1) BNS, which involves causing death by a rash or negligent act, not amounting to culpable homicide. In a more recent fatal car crash involving Telugu art director Anand Sai’s son Sandeep Anand, Sections 125(a) and 281 of the BNS were also invoked, along with Section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
The Union Home Ministry had put on hold the more stringent Section 106(2), a non-bailable provision that applies to hit-and-run cases involving a person who causes death by rash and negligent driving and flees without reporting the incident, after protests over its implementation.
On criminal compensation, Advocate Teja said the family would have no claim against the accused unless the case is upgraded to culpable homicide, in which case a court could order a fine or compensation. Separately, he said, the family can pursue a motor accident compensation claim against the vehicle’s insurer before the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal.
The proceedings in this case have also drawn parallels with the POCSO case against Bandi Bageerath, son of Union Minister of State Bandi Sanjay. A similar delay in the chargesheet also played out in the case, and the latest court documents from July still mention a pending chargesheet.
While Ramesh’s Jana Sena Party is part of the ruling coalition in Andhra Pradesh, alongside the TDP and BJP, under Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, the accident falls under Telangana’s jurisdiction, where the Congress is in power.
Criticism is mounting against the Revanth Reddy administration over alleged lapses in both cases. BRS working president KT Rama Rao, at a public meeting on September 2, highlighted the parallels in these cases and accused the State of protecting powerful people.
“POCSO accused get spared from arrest for nine days with support from the Chief Minister, who is protecting the children of his BJP friends. This is the situation of law and order in our state today. There are no repercussions for crimes committed by ministers’ kin. Even in the case of another party MP’s son, who hit and killed a person in the heart of Hyderabad city, the police are still protecting him,” alleged KTR.
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(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
