A special investigation team in Visakhapatnam has concluded that the death of 30-year-old fisherman Mylapalli Chanti was not a murder. Police said the evidence points to suicide, with some circumstances established through witness statements.
Chanti’s body was found at Jalaripeta beach on September 7. After his sister, M. Appalakonda, filed a complaint, One Town police initially registered a murder case. Investigators questioned about 50 people and examined CCTV footage and call data, but found no evidence that another person was involved.
The Police Commissioner then formed a special investigation team led by Gajuwaka Traffic Inspector Sheikh Hussain. With permission from Naval Coastal Battery authorities, the team reviewed footage from Matrix cameras, private establishments and cameras installed by the Navy. Investigators reconstructed Chanti’s movements on September 6 and questioned people who had seen him that day.
Police said the investigation found that Chanti had alcohol dependence and family problems. Friends said he appeared distressed on the evening of September 6 and spoke of being followed and threatened. At about 9:30 p.m., he used a vendor’s phone at the beach to call the police emergency number and reported that six people were coming to kill him. Officers who arrived could not establish whom he feared. A night patrol later advised him to leave the area.
Statements from about 15 people who reached the beach around 1 a.m. to immerse an idol during Sri Krishnashtami celebrations became central to the investigation. They told police they saw Chanti alone near the sea but did not approach him because they thought he might be performing a ritual. Police said the post-mortem findings were consistent with the investigation’s conclusion.