HYDERABAD: The recent abduction of Punjagutta resident BV Murali Krishna has taken an unexpected turn with the police discovering that it was the victim’s brother-in-law who was the mastermind in the perpetration of the crime.
According to police, Krishna was kidnapped on January 27 near Lal Bungalow in Ameerpet by five unknown individuals who claimed to be Income Tax (I-T) officials and held him for ransom. The accused persons hired an Innova car in Vijayawada and arrived in Hyderabad on January 26, cops added.
The next day, five of them kidnapped Krishna near Lal Bungalow. They forced him into the car and took him to Batasingaram. From there, one of them made a call to the victim’s wife asking her to pay them Rs 60 lakh in return for setting him free.
Worried over the safety of her husband, she managed to pool together Rs 30 lakh which Rajesh picked up from her. After receiving the money, Rajesh joined the other accused. He kept his money with his accomplices who then fled to Viayawada in the same car. After collecting the ransom of Rs 30 lakh, the kidnappers released Krishna near the Outer Ring Road. A case was immediately registered, and police formed four teams to track down the suspects.
Through their investigation, they discovered that Krishna’s brother-in-law, P Rajesh, was the mastermind behind the crime. Rajesh, along with his cousin D Raghavendra and friend Pilla Naga Jeevan Kumar, had planned the kidnapping and extorted the ransom from Krishna’s wife.
The police arrested Rajesh, Raghavendra, Jeevan Kumar, Abdul Saleem, Pallapu Laxmiah, Annepage Krishna Gopal, and Srinivas at Musheerabad following a tip-off while Gopal remains at large. During the arrests, the police recovered cash amounting to Rs 15,04,500. The investigation is ongoing, and police are continuing their search for the remaining suspect.
Posed as i-t officials
According to police, Krishna was kidnapped on January 27 near Lal Bungalow in Ameerpet by five unknown individuals who claimed to be I-T officials. The accused persons hired an Innova car in Vijayawada and arrived in Hyderabad on January 26. The next day, five of them kidnapped Krishna and forced him into the car. They took him to Batasingaram, where they called his wife demanding a ransom of Rs 60 lakh for his release.