Jana Sena’s Srikalahasti in-charge Kota Vinutha, husband arrested in driver’s murder; body retrieved in TN river | Vijayawada News

TIRUPATHI: Chennai police on Saturday arrested Jana Sena party’s in-charge for the Srikalahasti assembly constituency Kota Vinutha, her husband Chandrababu and their three close aides Gopi, Shiva Kumar and Sheik Thasan in connection with the murder of Vinutha’s driver CH Srinivasulu alias Rayudu, whose body was found in the polluted Koovam river under the Seven Wells police station limits in Chennai on Tuesday.After retrieving the body of the deceased, Seven Wells police arrived at his identity with the help of the Jana Sena and Vinutha Tattoos found on his hand. After this, the Seven Wells police reached out to Rayudu’s family at Srikalahasti, who confirmed it was him. Chennai city police commissioner A Arun told reporters that the Seven Wells police arrived at the identities of the accused with the help of CCTV footage, which showed the accused arriving in the car and disposing off the body in the Koovam river.“When we first retrieved the body, we knew it was a clear case of murder as there were injuries all over the deceased’s body, and strangulation marks were also there. The prime accused in the case is Vinutha Kota, who unsuccessfully contested on a Jana Sena ticket from Srikalahasti assembly constituency in the 2019 assembly elections”, Chennai police commissioner said.“The victim was murdered at Srikalahasti and his body was disposed of in the Koovam river near Chennai, as the accused was familiar with this area and believed that she could go Scot free if the body was disposed of here. But all the five accused involved in Rayudu’s murder have been arrested, and they have confessed to their crime. The motive for the murder was that Rayudu was giving away sensitive political and personal information of Vinutha Kota to her political rivals, which enraged her, leading to the murder”, police commissioner Arun told reporters. Meanwhile, Jana Sena party sources confirmed that Rayudu was working as a driver for Vinutha Kota for several years now. But after differences cropped up between them recently. Vinutha and her husband Chandrababu issued a statement on June 21 this year that Srinivasulu Rayudu was no longer connected to them as he had fallen into the trap of their political rivals and was giving away sensitive political and personal information to them.In less than a month after Rayudu stopped working for Vinutha Kota, he was murdered and his body was found dumped in the Koovam polluted river in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, leading to the arrests of Vinutha Kota, her husband Chandrababu and their three close aides who assisted them in executing the murder.While the Chennai police are investigating the case further after taking all the accused including Vinutha Kota into custody, Rayudu’s family members alleged that Vinutha Kota and her husband Chandrababu had subjected Rayudu to extreme torture and strangulated him to death near a factory at Srikalahasti and later on dumped his body in the Koovam river near Chennai.Meanwhile, as Vinutha Kota’s arrest in her driver’s murder case by the Chennai police unfolded, the Jana Sena party suspended Vinutha Kota from the party on Saturday. Tirupati Jana Sena legislator Arani Srinivasulu told reporters that the party high command took serious note of her involvement in the murder of her driver Rayudu, and suspended her from the party on disciplinary grounds.Srikalahasti TDP MLA Bojjala Sudheer Reddy expressed grief over the murder of Rayudu, who worked as a driver for Jana Sena constituency incharge Vinutha Kota for a long time. “Vinutha’s arrest in her own driver’s murder case is shocking. Ultimately, the law is supreme, and anyone involved in this murder should not be allowed to go scot free. I was informed that Srinivas’s body will reach his native village today evening. We will extend all necessary support to his family in this hour of great personal loss and crisis”, Srikalahasti MLA asserted.