HYDERABAD: The murder of driver Bhukya Nagaraju alias Nagu ensued from a heated argument between him and 24-year-old Venkatesh Sukreet, son of IAS officer G Venkateswar Rao. Nagaraju was found to have been bludgeoned to death on Friday night.
Sukreeth is elder son of G Venkateswar Rao alias GV Rao, working as joint director of agriculture in city. Nagaraju worked as driver with Rao’s estranged wife Anita, a practising lawyer.
According to police, Sukreet and Nagaraju were of the same age and belong to the same community. They became close to each other a year ago and used to frequent bars, resorts and consume liquor together.
Police have learnt that Nagarju and Sukreet were returning after consuming alcohol when, around midnight, arguments erupted between them. They went to Sai Kalyan Residency where Nagaraju’s friend works as a watchman. “Minutes after the duo went to the penthouse, Sukreet killed Nagaraju by smashing his head with a stone,” said Jubilee Hills police inspector Venkat Reddy.
“After killing Nagaraju, Sukreet left for his home and returned to Sai Kalyan Residency around 2 am (Saturday) to make sure if Nagaraju had died. He wanted to move the body from that place and brought a polythene sack to stuff the body in it and carry it. But he was seen going up and coming down in lift by the apartment owner who reported the matter to the police. The police, on arrival at the place, found Nagaraju lying in a pool of blood with head smashed completely,” the inspector said.
The police, after examining the footage from the CCTV installed at the building, detained Sukreet and questioned him about the death of Nagaraju. He confessed that he had killed Nagaraju in a drunken condition and tried to move the body.
Jubilee Hills police, who registered a case against Sukreet initially under Section 174 of CrPC (suspicious death), altered it to a case under Section 302 (murder) of IPC and took up investigation. Police said they would collect technical evidence based on mobile phone call data of Sukreet.