Labourer allegedly tied to pole, beaten to death in Vijayawada over a bottle of water

Four persons allegedly beat a labourer, M. Sai Kumar, 35, to death in Vijayawada after he allegedly took a water bottle from a fridge outside a roadside pan shop around midnight.

The incident occurred on October 19, but came to light on October 21. The victim was a native of Nalgonda district in Telangana.

According to the Patamata police, Sai Kumar had left his family and come to Vijayawada a few days ago. On the night of October 19, he took a water bottle from a fridge attached to a locked pan shop on the roadside on Patamata Donka Road.

One of the accused, Ravi Shankar, who saw this, allegedly beat Sai Kumar severely. Later, a worker in a nearby liquor shop, Ayyappa Shankar, allegedly tied the victim to a pole along with two other accused, Sai Praneeth and Naveem, and beat him with sticks.

Local residents who noticed the body on the roadside on the morning of October 20 alerted the police, said Patamata Circle Inspector (CI) V. Pavan Kishore.

“During postmortem, it was revealed that the victim succumbed to injuries. The accused took videos in their mobile phones while beating Sai Kumar. The offence was also recorded in the CCTV footages in the vicinity and police collected the clippings,” Mr. Pavan Kishore told The Hindu on Thursday (October 22, 2026).

The body was handed over to the bereaved family members. The accused were taken into custody and investigation is on, the CI said.

“We are trying to find out whether any other accused were involved in the attack,” Mr. Pavan Kishore said.