VIJAYAWADA: The mystery of a missing 24-year-old man more than a year ago was solved on Monday with police taking into custody seven persons allegedly involved in his murder. Based on the confession of the accused, the police exhumed the body near Bommuluru tollgate and sent it for DNA testing.
Jangam Chanti Babu of Gorijavolu village in Palnadu district, went missing in September last year. His body was found in a burial ground near Bommuluru tollgate under Krishna district limits. Speaking to TNIE, Palnadu district Superintendent of Police Y Ravishankar Reddy said Chanti Babu used to work as a real estate mediator in Nadendla Mandal and met the accused Rayapati Venkanna while dealing with a property dispute.
Both became friends in a short period and Venkanna disclosed his identity as an inter-state property offender to Chanti Babu and asked him to help convert the stolen gold and other properties into cash. “Greedy over easy money, Chanti Babu accepted his proposal and even participated in crimes along with Venkanna,” the SP said.
Everything was fine until Chanti Babu allegedly swindled 330 grams of stolen gold ornaments. Having learnt about the swindling of gold, Venkanna developed a grudge against him and wanted to take revenge as Chanti Babu was reluctant to give his share.
“With an aim to take revenge for cheating him, Venkanna went to Chanti Babu’s house on September 15, 2022 and brought him to Vijayawada. Venkanna along with six others participated in the settlement that took place in a hotel at Besant Road. They beat Chanti Babu to death as the talks to settle the matter turned futile. Later, they shifted the body, buried it in a burial ground at Bommuluru and left the place,” the SP revealed.
Accused attempted to kill victim’s uncle also: Police
A missing case was registered on September 16 and the investigation went on without any success. However, things took a turn when the accused had allegedly made an attempt to eliminate Chanti Babu’s uncle as he was pursuing the case with the police. “When Chanti Babu’s uncle started enquiring with police over the missing case, Venkanna came to know about it. He was afraid that the police would unravel the mystery and made a vain bid to kill him,” the SP disclosed.
During investigation into the attempt to murder case, police took Venkanna into custody. When questioned, Venkanna confessed to killing Chanti Babu. The body was exhumed from the burial ground and sent for DNA analysis, the police added.