Two murders allegedly for gain within a span of a few minutes and committed within a radius of about 4 km in the city sent the police into a tizzy on Monday night. Thanks to the quick reaction by the locals and swift action by the police, the men in khaki were able to nab the killers in one case.
In the first case, a 70-year-old widow Hafiz Unnissa, residing behind Indus Hospital near Jagadamba junction, was smothered to death by a gang of four at about 8 p.m. at her residence. All the four were caught by the police within two hours after the heinous crime was committed.
The arrested were identified as Arthapu Naresh Kumar (35), Vizianagaram district, Pallula Ramu (21), Paderu, Vanga Santha Kumari (23) wife of Naresh, and Batchala Varalakhsmi (19) of Pedabayalu.
According to Commissioner of Police Amit Garg, the main accused Naresh worked as a security guard at WIPRO software centre and was out of job for the last couple of months. Earlier, when he had worked as a guard at Manipal Hospital, he befriended Santha Kumari who was then an employee of Manipal and married her.
Santha was a tenant of the victim before her marriage and Naresh used to go to that house to meet a job consultant who was also a tenant. “Both Santha and Naresh were known to Hafiz Unnissa, and taking into consideration her vulnerability they hatched a plot with their friends Ramu and Varalakshmi to bump off the old woman and take away her jewellery,” said Mr. Garg.
Extortion case
According to the CP, Ramu was earlier caught in an extortion case at Hukumpeta and came out on bail on April 10. “All the four were without jobs and were in need of money,” said the CP.
The four mixed sedatives in ‘samosas’ and offered to the woman and later smothered her to death with the aid of a pillow. They took away two bangles, a chain, and a cell phone.
However, as they were leaving, Manikanta, a medical assistant who daily injects insulin to the victim, as she was a diabetic, found her dead and raised an alarm.
An alert neighbour at the same time called up Dial 100. The call was routed to the nearest Blue Colt patrol and as they rushed to the spot, they saw Naresh running away. He was caught after a brief tussle and on questioning he spilled the beans. The police within no time arrested the others and recovered the stolen property.
The entire operation was monitored by the CP.
Woman done to death
In the second case, a 65-year-old retired head nurse of the Railway Hospital, a widow, was done to death reportedly by robbers at her house in Abidnagar of Akkayyapalem. The victim was identified as Battiprolu Andalamma.
According Mr. Amit Garg, the body was found by the maidservant of the victim, Danthula Rajeswari (18), who came to work at about 8 p.m.
Noticing the door locked from inside, she called the house owners who reside in the ground floor. Since she did not respond to the calls, the police were called and on breaking open the front door, the police found her lying dead on the floor of the bedroom.
As per the initial investigation, she was reportedly strangulated to death and the offenders made good with two gold chains, eight bangles and a gold ring.
“As per the maidservant, the victim wore all gold on her person and the robbers even tried to break open the almirah, but failed,” said Mr. Amit Garg. Five teams were formed to investigate the case. Besides, CLUES team and tracker dogs were pressed into service, said the CP.
Preliminary investigation suggests that it could be the handiwork of some known person.
No arrests have been made so far in the second case. The CP has exuded confidence of cracking it soon