HYDERABAD: Medchal police arrested a 24-year-old labourer from Saidabad for the robbery and murder of a 50-year-old woman in Athvelly village, solving the case in the span of 72 hours.
The accused, K Rakesh, a labourer from Saidabad, Dilsukhnagar, is originally from Lingampet in Kamareddy district. The victim, Dasari Lalitha, alias Lakshmi, was found dead on May 16 after her landlord noticed smoke coming from her locked room. On breaking in, he found her charred body with a slit throat and her nose and ears severed. Preliminary investigation indicated robbery and foul play. A case was subsequently registered.
According to police, Rakesh, reportedly in financial distress and recovering from an accident, had been living with his mother and doing odd jobs. His mother, seeking help for his employment, contacted Lalitha, an old acquaintance from their time working at the Patancheru dumping yard. On May 15, Lalitha invited them to meet her at her workplace, a wine shop in Kistapur. After consuming toddy together, Rakesh’s mother returned home, leaving him with Lalitha.
Later that night, at her Athvelly residence, Rakesh gave her more toddy. Once she was asleep, he attempted to steal her jewellery. When she resisted, he slit her throat, mutilated her body to remove ornaments, set the body on fire, locked the house from outside and fled with the valuables.
Special teams tracked him down using technical evidence and CCTV footage and recovered 5 grams of gold ear and nose studs, 60 grams of silver jewellery, Rs 3,500 in cash, two mobile phones and the room key used to lock the house.