ELURU: A spine-chilling story of a cold-blooded serial killer came to light with the arrest of a real estate businessman in connection with the death of a physical education teacher (PET) on October 16 at Mary Matha temple at Valluru near here.
The accused, Siva, a resident of Hanuman Nagar, reportedly poisoned to death at least eight of his victims previously. His ninth victim was 49-year-old Nagaraju, a PET at KPDT School located at Ashok Nagar in the city. When Nagaraju, a long-time associate of Siva, was found dead, police thought the death was due to heart attack. But his family suspected foul play as Rs 2 lakh in cash and some jewellery he carried were found missing. Police sent the body for post-mortem and they were left shocked when the autopsy report pointed to poisoning.
Based on the last call the hapless PET made, police arrested Siva and took him to the station the next day. What gave away the diabolical plot was the poison-laced prasadam he was carrying at the time of his arrest.
Apart from real estate business, Siva used to cheat people, mostly from affluent families, by promising to help them find hidden treasures and gain political power. He would give some strange coins to his victims promising that they would bring them luck if they kept them. When his victims realised that they were taken for a ride and confronted him, Siva would offer them poison-laced prasadam, assuring them that this time his puja would not let them down. His victims died soon after eating the prasadam, but the needle of suspicion was never turned to him as he cleverly escaped by claiming that they died of heart attack.
According to police, Siva confessed to having eliminated eight persons over a period of five years -- three in Eluru and the remaining in Krishna and East Godavari districts -- after cheating them of cash and jewellery. Five of the victims are said to be the relations of the serial killer.
Nagaraju, who reportedly had links with treasure hunters and real estate businessmen, befriended Siva. According to some teachers at the school where Nagaraju worked, Siva would often come to meet the PET.
The relation between the two soured after Siva was insulted by Nagaraju and the former was waiting for an opportunity to kill the latter.
On the fateful day, Nagaraju left home carrying the cash and some jewellery telling his wife that he would be back soon. Police said Siva offered Nagaraju poison-laced prasadam, which the latter ate and soon after he collapsed. Confident that the death would be treated as the one due to heart attack like in other eight cases, Siva gathered the cash and jewellery and walked away. But he did not count on the suspicion of the victim’s wife. Now, the police have launched an investigation to find out eight other victims.