HYDERABAD: In a first, a five-hour joint operation by the Cyberabad Police, Telangana Police’s anti-terrorist squad OCTOPUS and the Fire Department was launched to arrest a murder accused at Shankarpally on the outskirts of Hyderabad late on Thursday.
High drama played out in the area when the accused, Medari Yadaiah, killed his father Medari Anjaneyulu and locked himself in the house with the body. He was even seen moving in the neighbourhood, brandishing a sickle which he had used to hack Anjaneyulu to death.
The OCTOPUS resorted to using pepper spray, tear gas and even a fire tender to force Yadaiah out of the house, without harming the crowd which had gathered at the spot.
On arresting him, the police found that Yadaiah has been mentally ill. Chevella ACP P Ravinder Reddy said he was produced in court and shifted to the Institute of Mental Health at Erragadda.
“He had undergone treatment for his mental health earlier too. He killed his father in a fit of rage,” the police officer said.
According to the police, Yadaiah (40), who used to live with his wife and three children at Jagathgirigutta in the city, was in the business of supplying bamboo material to construction sites.
Around 45 days ago, his mother died. Fed up with his abnormal behaviour, his wife and children left him, after which Yadaiah moved in with his father at Shankarpally.
On Thursday, Anjaneyulu scolded him for some reason, due to which Yadaiah lost his temper and killed him. Alerted by locals, the police rushed to the spot and found that the accused had locked himself up in the house with his father’s body beside him. When the neighbours started clicking photos of the incident, he switched off the lights.
Later, Yadaiah was seen walking near the house with the sickle in his hand, creating terror. On seeing people gathering in hundreds and the accused wielding a weapon, the police called in the OCTOPUS teams.
They first tried to convince Yadaiah to step out of the house but when that did not work, they used pepper spray, lobbed in a tear gas shell and finally sprayed him with water using the fire tender.
As a result, the weapon in his hand fell and he ran to the terrace. The OCTOPUS personnel, who had already taken position atop the neighbouring houses, jumped on to the terrace and caught hold of Yadaiah. “As he was armed, we did not want to endanger the lives of the people and our personnel. That’s why called in the OCTOPUS,” Ravinder Reddy said.