In Brief
Gorusu Nagaraju was convicted of murdering Desineedi Venkateswararao and destroying evidence. Both the trial court and high court found him guilty based on circumstantial evidence, including: being last seen with the victim, joint visit to purchase liquor, fingerprints on the bottle and glass, recovery of seized items on his instance, motive, and failure to explain. Although some witnesses turned hostile, non-hostile witnesses consistently corroborated key facts. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, holding that minor contradictions in testimony do not vitiate material evidence when establishing an unbroken chain implicating the appellant.
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