VIJAYAWADA: Another complaint was lodged against serial killer Vellanki Simhadri alias Siva at Ajit Singh Nagar police station on Wednesday, by a woman expressing suspicion that her husband, like other victims, was served cyanide-laced prasadam by the accused. Simhadri had admitted to eliminating 10 persons in the past two years using the same modus operandi.
The complainant, Gandikota Parvathi, a resident of Vadlamanu village of Agiripalli mandal, said that her husband Gandikota Bhaskara Rao had died in March last year due to cardiac arrest and that he believed in magical powers.
Parvathi said that her husband was a mango trader and a real estate broker. He had met a person named Shankar in 2017 and spent money on special poojas for acquiring wealth and prosperity. After their son’s marriage, the couple shifted to a rented house in Ajit Singh Nagar.
“My husband was found dead in our house and I thought he died of cardiac arrest. However, when Eluru police arrested Simhadri, I became suspicious that he may have killed my husband by giving him cyanide-laced prasadam. Days before his death, my husband had collected R 2.3 lakh cash and 80 grams of gold ornaments from our house. He told me many times that Shankar promised him that he would double the gold by by performing special poojas,” Parvathi said.
The serial killer resorted to murders in Krishna, East Godavari and West Godavari between February 2018 and October 16 this year. Simhadri used to collect money and gold from his victims promising to double their wealth by performing poojas and through other magical powers before killing them by serving them cyanide-laced prasadam.