Vizag Crime Watch - Accused in double murder case arrested after 10 years

Prime accused in the sensational double murder of an aged couple in 2005 and serial offender was nabbed by a special police team in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

The accused, identified as Akula Prakash (41), is a native of Parsigutta in Secunderabad. But he grew up in the Kamatipura area of Mumbai. He is currently residing in the Narava area of Visakhapatnam.

Prakash was also an accused in the theft of two bags in May and June of 2014 in Simhachalam and Gopalapatnam areas of the city.

Basing on a complaint, a special team led by ACP (north sub-division) V. Bheema Rao and Gopalapatnam SHO S. Bala Surya Rao had been on the lookout for him since then.

Acting on reliable information, the team arrested Prakash from near his residence.

DCP Ramgopal Naik said that the accused followed a unique modus operandi. His areas of operation were railway stations and bus stops.

The accused befriends passengers in a train or people waiting for a train or bus. After winning their confidence, he buys them tea or some drink. While getting the drink, he drops a couple of Ativan 2 mg tablets, an anti-depressant drug, into the glass or cup. Once the passenger falls asleep under the influence of the drug, he would lift his baggage and scoot. During one such operation in 2005, he had offered an aged couple fruit juice laced with the drug at Visakhapatnam station. But due to overdose, the couple died and a case had been booked for murder under various IPC sections such as 302, 328, and 379.

“There were four persons involved in the crime. Three of them had been caught. But Prakash, the main accused, had been absconding since then,” said Mr. Ramgopal Naik.

Using the modus operandi, Prakash had committed many offences in Mumbai, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Delhi, and Nagpur over the last 20 years, Mr. Naik said.

The accused has two wives and four children. The police recovered about 100 Ativan tablets and 3.5 tolas of gold from him.

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