Bhadrachalam: Police have booked six people after Anantula Lakshminarayana, a Palvancha Navabharat HP Gas manager and Civil Supplies employee, died by suicide at a private lodge in Bhadrachalam. In a suicide note, he alleged that he was being mentally harassed with false complaints over a offence he did not commit. The incident has caused a stir.
According to the note, a woman working as a data entry operator in his office was pressuring him to sell gas in the black market and harassing him mentally. He wrote that he took 21 days of leave from July 27 because he could not bear the harassment. During the leave, he asked the Additional Collector and the Civil Supplies District Manager (DM) to transfer him from the Palvancha office, but the DM told him to continue working in Palvancha.
He stated that his request for CCTV cameras in the office, a condition for continuing to work in Palvancha, was ignored by officials. He added that the harassment did not stop after he rejoined duty on August 17. On September 28, according to the note, the operator’s husband, a journalist and six others came to the Palvancha gas office and abused him in front of the staff.
He alleged that the operator then complained to senior officials on September 30 that he was sexually harassing her. A middleman, he wrote, said ₹1 crore was being demanded to withdraw the complaint. Officials conducted a field-level inquiry into the complaint on October 16, the note said.
In the note, Lakshminarayana held the data entry operator, her husband Rajesh, Kothagudem gas company employee Kaleem, and reporters Nagachandu, Venkanna and Ravi responsible for his death. He alleged that all of them threatened to defame him on social media. He also alleged that they blamed him and harassed him mentally so the operator could secure a transfer to Kothagudem.
Before his death, Lakshminarayana sent WhatsApp messages to his wife and daughter. He told them that Kaleem had said ₹1 crore was being sought to withdraw the complaint, and that he was taking his own life. He asked his wife, Pravallika, to look after their children Chaitra and Sravan, and asked the children to take care of their mother. He also asked for their forgiveness.
Case registered against six people
On a complaint from his daughter, Anantula Madhulika, police registered a case against six people under Crime No. 279/2026, under Section 108 read with Section 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Rajitha is named as A1, Rajesh as A2, Nagachandra as A3, Venkanna as A4, Kaleem as A5 and Ravi as A6.
Eega Venkateswarlu and Ale Balakrishna, president and general secretary of the state Padmasali Employees Association, demanded a comprehensive inquiry into the death and strict punishment for the guilty. They attended Lakshminarayana’s funeral and expressed deep condolences to his family. They also urged the government to ensure justice for the family.