Dispute over 20-acre land may have led to murders of realtor and associate

HYDERABAD: A land dispute could be the behind the shocking murders of two city-based real estate businessmen Srinivas Reddy and Raghavender Reddy at Ibrahimpatnam.According to family members, Srinivas Reddy had leased around 20 acres of land in Kharmanguda in Ibrahimpatnam, which he turned into agricultural fields and had been taking care of the cultivation personally for the last few months.

The main suspect in the double murder case is Matta Reddy, whose land is next to Srinivas Reddy’s venture. The land dispute between the two has been going on for six months in this regard. There were also allegations that Matta Reddy had grabbed some of Srinivas’s land and begun construction activities. The land dispute may have led to the murders, police suspect.

A resident of Meerpet, Srinivas Reddy had been in real estate for 10 years and Raghavender Reddy was a close associate of his. “Srinivas was a good human being and did not have any enemies. We suspect Matta Reddy’s role in this murder,” said a family member.

Guesthouse plan

Srinivas Reddy also had plans of building a guest house on the 20-acre land. Since he began cultivation, he would visit his land every day. In between, there were some clashes between Srinivas Reddy and Matta Reddy. Murders have become common due to land and property disputes in Hyderabad which is witnessing huge growth in real estate. Last year, a 65-year-old woman was murdered by her son over a property dispute in the family. An advocate too had been killed by one of his family members over a property dispute.

Morning routine turned lethal

On Tuesday morning, Srinivas Reddy started from home in his vehicle, picked up Raghavender Reddy at around 6 am and went to his land. This has been their morning routine for the past few days, the families of victims revealed to police