VIJAYAWADA: NDRF and SDRF personnel started search operations in Eluru canal in the city on Monday for the head of G Manikranthi, who was beheaded by her husband Petteti Pradeep Kumar at Srinagar Colony on Sunday. After beheading his wife, Pradeep carried her head and threw it into the canal before surrendering to police. But the head was not found though the search operations in the canal continued till the evening.
Satyanarayanapuram Circle Inspector N Bala Murali Krishna said Pradeep resorted to the brutal killing of his wife as an act of vengeance for filing cases against him and his family members. During interrogation, Pradeep revealed that he reached the crime spot 30 minutes before and waited for the arrival of Manikranthi. He further said he stopped Manikranthi on the pretext of talking to her while she was going into her house.
After a heated argument, he slit her throat with a knife and beheaded her, the CI said. When people raised an alarm after seeing Pradeep carrying the head of his wife, he threw it in a nearby canal and surrendered to the police. Four teams were deployed for search operations in Eluru canal. But the severed head was not found. The body of the victim was handed over to her family members for cremation after the conduct of postmortem, he added.
Meanwhile, Manikranthi’s mother G Lakshmi alleged that Praveen, brother of the accused, and Siva, brother-in-law, also participated in the ghastly crime. “All the three hatched a conspiracy and murdered my daughter. Soon after committing the murder, they fled on a scooter. The culprits should be hanged to death,” she said.
When asked about the involvement of two others in the crime, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Ch Vijaya Rao said they are examining the footage of CCTV cameras in the locality to identify all those involved in the murder. “We are taking the concerns of the victim’s family into consideration. Cases will be filed against Praveen and Siva if they were really involved in the murder,” the DCP told TNIE.