Sampath Raj, the National Secretary of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and a practicing lawyer was found murdered in Andhra Pradesh’s Sri Sathya Sai district on Thursday. His body was discovered in a lake in Dharmavaram, with local residents alerting the police after noticing the body.
Authorities believe unknown individuals killed Raj and subsequently disposed of his body in the bushes near the lake. The police have registered a case and moved the body for autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
Raj hailed from Yerraguntapalli village in Dharmavaram mandal and had been living in Hindupur for the past 20 years. As the NSUI national secretary in charge of Kerala, he was actively involved in political activities and had recently participated in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’.
Reports indicate that Raj had an ongoing land dispute with another lawyer in Hindupur. He had previously approached the police regarding this issue, which is now a focal point of the investigation.
The police have stated that they are exploring all possible angles in their probe to uncover the circumstances surrounding Raj’s murder.