HYDERABAD: In a blood-curdling act, a tenant farmer, who recently ventured into the real estate business, murdered a woman tahsildar of Abdullapurmet mandal in Rangareddy district by setting her on fire in her chambers at her office near here on Monday.
The accused, Kura Suresh, walked into the office of Ch Vijaya Reddy, 37, and set her ablaze after dousing her in petrol, which he brought in a bottle. As he lit fire to her clothes and the flames charred her, Vijaya Reddy rushed out, but it was too late by then. Halfway through, she collapsed and died as the flames devoured her.
In the process, Suresh too sustained burns, but managed to flee. The police later arrested him and admitted him to a hospital where the doctors said his condition was critical as he sustained 63 per cent burns.
The incident took place around 1.30 pm, when Vijaya Reddy was taking representations from people. Though her office was on the first floor, Suresh managed to run downstairs and flee.
As Vijaya Reddy was engulfed in flames, her private driver Chandraiah and attender Gurunatham tried to rescue her and overpower Suresh. In the process, they too suffered burns and have been hospitalised.
According to the police, a land dispute at Gourelli village led to the incident, and the issue has been pending with the Telangana High Court. “We are inquiring into this angle,” Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said.
Suresh’s relatives said his father and paternal uncle had a running dispute with a few persons over the ownership of a seven-acre land parcel in Gourelli village, and the two had been making rounds to a number of offices and also knocked on the doors of the high court for a declaration that the land belongs to them.
They said Suresh had never been involved in the fight for land ownership and had never taken up the issue with the tahsildar. They said they didn’t know why he killed her.
Vijaya Reddy, a 2009-batch Group II cadre officer, was recruited as a deputy tahsildar. She was promoted as tahsildar in 2013, and was posted as tahsildar of Abdullapurmet mandal since its formation in 2016. She began her career as a government teacher, and later joined the revenue department. She was honoured with the best tahsildar award two years ago.
A mother of two, Vijaya Reddy lived at Green Hills Colony of Kothapet at LB Nagar with her husband P Subash Reddy, a lecturer at Government Degree College in Hayathnagar.
A case of murder and attempt to murder has been registered against the accused. Amid tight security, a postmortem examination was conducted by a team of forensic experts led by HoD of forensics from Osmania Hospital College Dr Taqiuddin Khan and assistant professor Dr Sugatha, at Osmania mortuary. The body was later shifted to the house of the deceased at Kothapet. The final rites will be conducted at Nagole on Tuesday morning.