Bapatla: There was no political angle to the tragic incident of burning a tenth class student to death after dousing him in petrol, according to Bapatla District Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal.
Talking to media persons here on Saturday, he said that Uppala Amarnath, 14, who lost his father in childhood, was living with his mother, sister and grandfather. “When a youth Venkateswara Reddy from Redlapalem of Razole panchayat was teasing his elder sister, Amarnath reprimanded him in public which resulted in the youth nursing a grudge. As Amarnath went about telling everybody about the eve teasing, he was enraged and plotted to kill Amarnath. On Friday morning, around 6 a.m. when Amarnath was going for tuition classes, he obstructed him along with his friends. Then he took him behind a place where maize bags were stacked, doused him petrol and set him on fire. We have so far arrested three persons in the case and another person is at large,” he disclosed.
He also said that the case was being probed from all angles and all technical evidence was being gathered.The petrol bottle was seized and the finger prints on it were collected.
The video recording of the death statement of Amarnath was also done and the case was being fast-tracked to punish the guilty, he stated, adding that it was purely a personal rivalry between two persons.
When people’s organisations staged a rasta roko as the body was being taken to the burial ground on Saturday, the state government has promised Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia, job for a family member and a house-site which pacified the agitators.