True story: When the most wanted criminal could not run away from himself

 True story: When the most wanted criminal could not run away from himself

An imagined posthumously written last page in the diary of Pallakonda Raju 

Everyone wished to see my end. That it came soon. With torture added. You wanted to see fear writ large on my face. You wanted me to notice that they had no pity whatsoever for me. I did not deserve any of their pity, after all that I had done. I saw the celebrations that took place at Singareni Colony in Saidabad in Hyderabad, when the news burst on everyone’s faces that I had died. They burst crackers.

There were some who wanted to dismember my body. That would have meant death several times over—for their sake. Their anger was justified. They made no bones of their intentions. I won't sit in judgment over them and the stance they took. What moral right do I have anyway? When I did the unthinkable to a little girl, I had stripped myself of all my rights to live after that. I had myself signed my death warrant then itself.

As for me, I wanted to live. Not die. I wanted to leave this past behind and go away somewhere. I wanted to mingle in the public and get away. Why did I commit that crime? I should have thought of the consequences before I unleashed myself on an innocent victim who trusted me.

The law takes its own course, they say. I would be arrested. I would then be taken to the spot where I committed the crime. This would be for ‘scene recreation’ during the police investigation. Would I survive it?

Dying was not on my agenda. It did not cross my mind. Then what right did I have to violate and snuff the life out of my victim who was my neighbour? The circumstances in my life put those wicked thoughts in me. I watered the thoughts. The neighbours knew my wife had left me and had gone to her parents' house with my eight-year-old daughter. I was left alone in the house.

I loved my daughter. She was my world. I loved my wife too. I told her she was my life. I proved it to her by getting a tattoo of her name done on my arm. Could there have been a better way of professing my love for her? It was this very tattoo, the identity that was publicised, that allowed me to be nabbed. There was no way I could remove it. There was no way I could run away from reality. The odds were against me. 

The world was upset with me. Angry. They were like lions prowling after me. They were like a pack of hungry wolves. They were like dogs waiting to claw me. They were not afraid of the consequences. The people of Singareni Colony in Hyderabad asked the police to apprehend me and hand me over to them. The mob wanted to deliver their own kind of justice. I heard what they said. The combined anger of them all would have left me dismembered.

They destroyed my room. Broke it open. They found my victim, whom I had wrapped in a bed to hide. The sight broke the hearts of her parents. The relatives plunged into grief. There was only one name on everyone's lips: Pallakonda Raju.

Until that time, not many even knew me in the colony. I hardly had any conversations with the people there.

What happened that day, on September 9, 2021?

Will come back to that later.

Let me tell you what happened on September 16, 2021.

I had escaped the dragnet of the police for seven days. I had evaded arrest. It had become tiresome being on the run. If I had to keep going, I had to keep my mind strong. There was no strength left in me. Everywhere I went, it seemed like the police were closing in on me—or so I imagined. I wanted to outsmart them all. If the world was waiting for some news, it was this: that Pallakonda Raju had finally been captured by the police. And that I had become history, only to be loathed as a memory.

I could not escape hiding my identity for too long. I had long hair. There were the tattoos too. Of course, the tattoos could be hidden. And yes, I could have cut my hair. When there was a hunt for me, could I have gone into a barber's shop to ask for a haircut? That would have been risking too much.

Frankly, after I committed the crime—yes, I admit—it was a heinous crime—I did not quite know what to do. I had no readymade escape plans. I could not think of hideouts. Going home to my mother's place was ruled out. That would be the first place the cops would go searching for me.

Then where did I go? First, I had ‘pani puri’. That filled my stomach for then. What did I choose to do? How did I hide? After I fled, the CCTV cameras tracked me initially. I managed not to be sighted again. At least I was under that impression.

On the run, far away from my house, I saw a train on the tracks. It appeared fast and furious. I took the final plunge.

The Last Words

Now I am no more. You celebrated. You cursed. You wept. You demanded justice.

 Do not think that I escaped. My death was not freedom. It was punishment, written into every breath I took in those final days.

 If there is anything left of me, it is only a warning. A reminder of what unchecked desire, anger, and weakness can destroy. A family shattered. A community wounded. A child silenced forever.

I am Pallakonda Raju. My name will not be remembered with love. It will be remembered with rage. And perhaps that is the justice you sought.

The Lesson We Cannot Ignore

Every act of violence leaves more than one victim. The dead carry silence, but the living carry scars.

 No crime happens in isolation—it destroys families, ruptures trust, and shatters the fabric of society. My life and my end are proof that desire unchecked, anger unrestrained, and conscience ignored can only lead to ruin.

 If there is anything to be learned from my fall, it is this:

Respect is stronger than fear.

Restraint is stronger than impulse.

And justice—whether of law or of life—will always find its way.

The News That Was

In September 2021, a six-year-old girl went missing from Saidabad, Hyderabad. She was later found dead in her neighbour Pallakonda Raju’s house. Authorities identified him as the main suspect in the case.

The police launched a statewide manhunt, announcing a cash reward for information. The incident triggered widespread public outrage and protests in the community.

On September 16, 2021, Raju was found dead on railway tracks near Station Ghanpur in Jangaon district. Police described it as a suicide, though his family raised questions about the circumstances.

Following the incident, the Telangana High Court ordered a judicial inquiry into the events surrounding his death, with a Magistrate tasked to submit a detailed report.

(Note: Image is AI generated)