The East Godavari Police have intensified the investigation into the death of five Konda Reddy tribals reportedly after consuming toddy at Lododdi village in Raja Vommangi Mandal on Wednesday.
Superintendent of Police M. Raveendranath Babu, Rampachodavaram Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) Project Officer C.V. Praveen Adithya, Rampachodavaram ASP Krishnakanth Patil on Thursday met family members of the victims. They also inspected the site where the victims allegedly consumed the toddy.
The deceased have been identified as Ch. Sugreevulu, Vemula Lovaraju, Pothuri Ganga Raju, Busari Sanyasi Rao, and Kude Yesubabu, whose last rites were performed on Thursday. All the victims belonged to Lododdi village.
Mr. Raveendranath Babu told the media that the probe had been intensified to ascertain if there was any conspiracy angle to the case. “We are probing into the possibility that if any miscreants had poisoned the toddy before it was collected from the tree. However, no scientific evidence on the quality of the toddy consumed by the victims has been established,” said Mr. Raveendranath Babu.
Ex gratia
The SP promised ex gratia from the State government to the victims’ families as per the entitlement under the existing schemes in the event of unnatural death. “The police need some time to come to any scientific conclusion on the apparent reasons for the death and we have to wait for the medical reports,” he said.
By Thursday, the government was yet to announce any ex gratia to the victims.
