Police suspect ‘self inflicted’ injuries on Congress Youth Leader Vikram Goud

Hyderabad: M. Vikram Goud, son of former Andhra Pradesh’s Minister M. Mukesh Goud is recovering from the injuries sustained in the firing after the Congress Youth leader was shot in his residence on Friday.

Police suspect that the injuries are “self-inflicted”, considering his WhatsApp conversations, which revealed the leader was indebted and several people were asking him to pay back the borrowed money, he could have resorted to this solution in order to get help from his father.

So far the leader has not given any statement about the firing, but Police expects to know the truth behind the shooting after questioning Vikram and examining the evidence involved in the crime scene.

According to examination by ballistic experts of TS Forensic Science Laboratory, Osmania General Hospital, forensic medicine department and Clues team, the inflicted wounds were ‘black tattooed’ which usually happens when firing was from a very close range, almost touching the body revealed the Police sources.

“The injury and the blackening of skin indicate that he was shot at close range twice. The cartridges have been recovered from the scene”, M. Mahender Reddy City Commissioner was quoted saying.

Gun shot residues were collected from both, Vikram as well as his wife’s hands which will now be tested by Doctors at Apollo Hospitals. “As his body was cleaned up it is not easy to get GSR but we have to see,” said an expert.

One of the city police officials said, “Vikram Goud is not revealing what happened though he is conscious and talking. He is saying he will talk to us later. His wife said they were going to a dargah at 3.30 am to feed the poor, which is not corroborated. The angle of fire appeared that the weapon was in close range, in touch with the cloth. If someone shot him there should be some distance.”

According to the Ballistic experts, 7.65 pistol was used for the firing after analyzing the bullets and cartridges. The Police could not find the pistol yet. Vikram Goud had no gun license since his prior license was canceled due to criminal cases said the Police.

No suspicious activity was recorded on the CCTV cameras of nearby houses. The leader along with his family alone lived in plush Gayatri Hills situated at Banjara Hills.

According to the watchman and the driver, they didn’t see anyone entering the house and the CCTV cameras of the leader’s residence were not working when the incident occurred.

The leaders WhatsApp conversations also had news related to the ongoing probe into the drug case. Vikram was related to the film industry as he was a film producer too. Film director Puri Jagannadh also visited him in the hospital.

“His wife stated that she heard gunshots while she was changing upstairs. She claimed when she rushed down she saw him in a pool of blood with injuries near the sofa in the hall,” said an investigation official.

According to the Police, the injuries were self-inflicted and that after analyzing they have come to three possibilities of the case.

“He must have been shot by an insider, who was in the house, but only his wife and children were there at the time of the incident. The second is that he must have shot himself, not to kill himself but to scare someone or divert attention. The third possibility is that someone from outside, his rivals, must have come and shot him. But there are no signs of a break-in,” said a senior investigation officer.

Vikram Goud contested as a Mayor for Hyderabad last year in the municipal corporation elections from Janbagh (Ward 77), but did not win the seat, instead, MIM’s D. Mohan, a childhood friend of Mukesh Goud, won the Mayor’s seat.

He joined Congress in 2008 after completion of his MBA from the UK and was the general secretary of the Youth Congress in undivided AP.

Prior to contesting for Mayor last year, Vikram contested for Metro Water Board Union but lost twice to the irrigation minister T . Harish Rao. He then moved to handle his father’s constituency since he was the minister then. Several cases were filed against Vikram since his alleged involvement in extortion, land and finance settlements, especially in the Begum Bazar division.

Some of his produced movies include Homam, Ishq, and Gunde Jaari Gallan Tainde in Telugu. He is also believed to own a restaurant-cum-club in Madhapur according to the sources.