Senior police officials handling the investigations into the murder of faction leader Maddelacheruvu Suri now believe that the prime suspect in the case Bhanu Kiran could have fled the country with a fake passport.

Investigating teams returned empty handed from Bangalore, Mumbai and Anantapur without getting any clue on his whereabouts. The interrogation of Bhanu Kiran’s mother, sister and brother-in-law also did not yield any tangible results in finding out his movements. The investigating teams now say that Bhanu and his gunman Manmohan Singh planned the murder some months in advance clearly establishing their escape routes to safety.

Links with ministers and police officials

Police officials are however leaking privately the details of his links with top politicians and senior officials in the establishment. The interrogation of Bhanu Kiran’s followers revealed that Bhanu had links with six ministers, with the contacts being very close with two of them. He was also a regular visitor at a Minister’s house in Hyderabad. Investigators reportedly came to know that Bhanu was seen at the minister’s house in the morning hours of the day Suri was killed.  Some of the followers of Bhanu confirmed to policemen that he had good contacts with the son of the minister.

Investigators have also established that Bhanu had close links with the additional personal secretary of a former chief minister.  An MLA from Kadapa district, who is now very close to the present chief minister, is also very close to the suspected killer of Suri.

The list of people who are very close to Bhanu Kiran does not end here. More than 20 Hyderabad police officials are also very close to him. It is said that these officials used to give him their vehicles when he worked on settlements.

With this back drop, no sensitive person in the state can expect a breakthrough in the investigations into the murder of Suri. Bhanu also may never be arrested, after all. He could well be in Hyderabad and police still may not find him.