High Court orders CBI probe into Andhra student's murder

Hyderabad, Nov 29 (IANS) The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday ordered a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into 11-year-old sensational case of a Andhra pharmacy student's rape and murder.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice S.V. Bhatt asked the Central agency to register a fresh First Information Report (FIR) and take up the investigation.

The court also entrusted to the premier investigation agency the probe into the destruction of records relating to the case.

The bench passed the orders on a petition by parents of Ayesha Meera, a 19-year-old pharmacy student who was raped and murdered brutally in a hostel at Vijayawada in 2007. They had sought handing over of the case to the CBI.

Last month, the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the case, had informed the High Court that the records were destroyed in the trial court.

Ayesha was raped and murdered on December 27, 2007. Her body was found outside the toilet on the second floor of the Sri Durga Ladies Hostel in Ibrahimpatnam, where she was staying.

In 2008, police claimed that one Satyam Babu, arrested in a cell phone robbery case, confessed to Ayesha's murder.

Ayesha's parents had alleged that police pinned the crime on Satyam Babu to misdirect the investigation as a relative of former Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Koneru Ranga Rao was involved in the crime.

The Mahila Court in Vijayawada, on September 10, 2010, convicted and sentenced Satyam Babu to life imprisonment.

Last year the Hyderabad High Court acquitted Satyam Babu. It also ordered action against the police officials who investigated the case.

Subsequently the state government constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a fresh probe. The High Court was supervising the probe by SIT earlier this year.

Expressing its unhappiness over the manner in which SIT conducted the probe, the court reached a conclusion that only a probe by CBI would be proper.