Man behind murder of wife, 2 kids, father

Police cracked the mystery behind the sensational Somalaregada murder of four of a family and found the lone surviving family member, who was injured, as the accused.

The attack on five of an agriculturist family at Somalaregada in Duttalur mandal on February 9, created a sensation across the state as three of them, including two children, died on the day of the attack and one of the two injured died in a hospital on Sunday.

Police zeroed in on the lone surviving member of the family, B Radhakrishna Reddy, as accused whom the police produced before media and later before the magistrate. He confessed to the crime that he had killed all the family members according to his earlier plan as his family was is in deep financial crisis and indebted to tune of `7 lakh. Reddy said it was better to die  than lead a miserable life. Reddy, at first, did not reveal his role in the attack to the police but confided in a doctor who treated him at the DSR Government Hospital. Tipped off by the doctor, police took Reddy into custody and interrogated him. 

Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, superintendent of police BV Ramana Kumar said Reddy put out all lights when around 11.30 pm on February 8 when all family members went to sleep.

He then sneaked into the varanda where his father, Venkatasubba Reddy (70), was asleep and  stabbed him indiscriminately.

Then he went inside and slit the throat of his his wife Ramadevi (43) with a sickle. His 10-year-old son Somasekhar Reddy, who woke up and saw the murder, cried for help but was stabbed by his father in the abdomen and throat.

Reddy then attacked his 12-year-old daughter Jhansilakshmi. While Ramadevi and Jhansilakshmi died on the spot, Somasekhara Reddy died in hospital on February 9.  To make the murders loo like the handiwork of his rivals, Radhakrishna Reddy stabbed himself and suffered serious injuries. 

A villager going by the way in the morning saw the family members in a pool of blood and alerted other villagers.

The injured were shifted to DSR Hospital in Nellore where the boy died.

Radhakrishna and his  father were shifted to a hospital in Chennai as their condition turned critical.

With their condition improving, they were brought here and admitted to the hospital but the elderly man died.

Additional SP Chandrasekhar, Kavali DSP Indira, Nellore Rural DSP Bala Venkateswara Rao, Udayagiri CI Kalyanaram and others were present at the press meet.

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