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Anantapur chainsaw attack: accused Hemanth shot by police in Atmakur forest; Class 10 girl stable in Bengaluru
Hemanth, accused of attacking a Class 10 girl with a chainsaw in a Raptadu classroom, was shot six times by police in the Atmakur forest area of Anantapur on 1 November. Police say he attacked the team and tried to flee. Minister Nara Lokesh says the girl, in a Bengaluru hospital, is stable.
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Hemanth, alias Dummu, the 21-year-old man accused of attacking a Class 10 girl with a chainsaw inside her classroom in Raptadu, was shot by police on Sunday, 1 November. The shooting took place in the Atmakur forest area of Anantapur district, where police fired six rounds. He was taken to the District Government General Hospital in Anantapur with serious injuries, and there has been no confirmed update on his condition.
What police say happened
Police teams were sent to the Atmakur forest after receiving information about the accused. Their account is that he attacked the officers and tried to run away, and was shot as he tried to escape. The accounts differ on the circumstances. One report says he was being taken to the school to reconstruct the crime and threw stones at the team before running. Another says he was hiding in the forest and tried to escape carrying a knife while attacking the officers with stones. Some reports say several police personnel were injured, though others mention no injuries to police, and the details have not been independently verified.
Earlier reports on Saturday had said he was held after fleeing the school, and the latest reports describe the Sunday operation without settling how and when he was taken into custody.
The 15-year-old girl was moved from the Anantapur Government General Hospital to the Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru under a green channel. Education Minister Nara Lokesh said doctors had controlled her bleeding and that her condition is now stable. She is undergoing orthopaedic surgery, to be followed by plastic surgery for her face and other injuries.
Her injuries include the complete severing of her right hand, injuries to her neck and face, skull and rib fractures and damage to blood vessels. The government hospital's superintendent listed polytrauma, shock from blood loss, a collapsed lung, multiple facial bone fractures, fractures of both shoulder blades and a fracture of a neck vertebra. Doctors reportedly gave her 10 units of blood. A second girl who tried to protect her classmate was also injured, and her condition has not been described.
The motive has not been officially established. One report says the girl had rejected his marriage proposal. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has condemned the attack and directed officials to make sure both girls get proper treatment, and Lokesh has promised the family government help and strict action against those responsible. A teacher said the staff had at first mistaken the sound of the chainsaw for construction machinery. How an armed outsider reached a classroom during lessons remains part of the investigation.
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