HYDERABAD: UP-and-coming actress Bhargavi of ‘Ashta Chemma’ fame, was found murdered at her residence in Sri Venkateswara Colony here in Banjara Hills on Tuesday. A choreographer K Praveen Kumar alias Bujji, said to be her husband, was also found dead beside her. Police suspect that Praveen might have killed Bhargavi before ending his own life.
Bhargavi, who shot to fame with her performance as one of the heroines in the recent hit movie ‘Ashta Chemma’, was working in a couple of films and was to go for shooting this morning. As she did not turn up, one of the crew members visited her house and found both the bodies on her bed.
Police believe the incident might have occurred late last night. There were seven injuries on Bhargavi’s body. Praveen lay beside her with his head on her lap. A soft drink bottle and a blood-stained knife were also found in the room.
Police suspect the drink might have been laced with potassium cyanide. However, they did not find any signs of a scuffle in the house.
Neighbours too stated that they had not heard any noise late last night.
‘‘Praveen might have tricked Bhargavi into consuming the poisonous drink and later stabbed her in a fit of rage. He may have consumed the toxic potion to end his life,’’ DCP West Zone C Ravi Verma said.
However, the police are yet to ascertain the exact cause of their deaths which would be established only after post-mortem.
Investigation revealed that Praveen Kumar (30) alias Bujji was a resident of Bujubuju Nellore area in Nellore town. He was running one Saibaba Orchestra in Hyderabad and Bhargavi, a native of Guntur district, joined his troupe as a dancer. According to Praveen’s brother K Kiran Kumar, Praveen had two wives - Dolly, who is living with his parents in Nellore and Swapna, a TV anchor.
He also had one child with each of them. However, Kiran Kumar denied any knowledge of the marriage between Praveen and Bhargavi.
In a suicide note left behind, Praveen stated that he developed intimacy with Bhargavi and married her on December 14, 2006 secretly.
While Praveen continued his career as a lead singer of his orchestra, Bhargavi was going places bagging roles in serials and films.
With Bhargavi hogging the limelight with ‘Ashta Chemma’ and getting busy, he reportedly felt that she was avoiding him at the behest of her mother. Praveen, who went to Nellore recently, reportedly told his friends about the change in Bhargavi’s behaviour and even expressed his plans to kill her, if situation did change.
‘‘Praveen wrote that Bhargavi’s mother did not allow him to meet her for more than a month continuously which made him desperate.
Bhargavi’s mother went to Guntur a couple of days ago. He seems to have visited her yesterday and killed her,’’ said a police official.
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