KHAMMAM: Police have cracked the mystery behind the death of YouTuber Boggula Srinivas, 48, whose body was found in the Palair reservoir in the district on February 15, and announced the arrest of four persons.
Speaking to the media, Khammam Rural ACP Tirupathi Reddy said a financial dispute led to the murder. He stated that Srinivas was stabbed to death by a ‘supari’ gang hired by his friend Mekala Venumadhav Reddy.
Venumadhav Reddy established a shell company called Meka Projects and used the GST licence of Srinivas registered in the name of Boggula BBQ promising his friend 50% of profits, the ACP said.
According to police, Venumadhav Reddy generated fake invoices and sales using Srinivas’s GST registration to earn illegal profits. Between 2022 and 2025, fake invoices and sales worth about Rs 90 lakh were reportedly generated using the Boggula BBQ GST number.
However, Venumadhav Reddy allegedly paid Srinivas only Rs 15 lakh. Meanwhile, both received notices from GST authorities over misuse of the registration, and the GST licence of Boggula BBQ was eventually cancelled.
Police said that following mounting financial pressure and disputes, Venumadhav Reddy allegedly conspired to eliminate Srinivas and struck a deal with a ‘supari’ gang. As part of the conspiracy, the accused — Pokala Venkateswar Rao, Abdul Hapeez and Azmat Ali Khan — were reportedly paid Rs 5 lakh by Venumadhav Reddy.
As part of the plan, on the night of February 13, the accused allegedly lured Srinivas into a car on the pretext of settling the pending payment. In the early hours of February 14, while travelling between Nakrekal and Jangaon, the accused allegedly attacked him with knives and iron rods, killing him on the spot. After the murder, the accused allegedly transported the body in a car, pushed the vehicle into the Palair reservoir to make it appear as an accidental drowning.