GUNTUR: Ponnur police on Thursday arrested eight persons for their alleged involvement in the murder of a rice trader. Anji Barnabas (40) was kidnapped on October 18 when he was on his way home.Upon receiving a complaint from his wife, the police filed a case and started investigation. Five special teams were formed and they tried to trace the accused through CCTV footage.
On October 23, his dead boy was found in Gunderu lake near Machilipatnam. The three main accused have been identified as K Srinivasa Rao (39), P Srinivasa Rao (46), and Noorbasha Shaik Baji Mastan (35), all residents of Ponnur. They were Anji’s competitors in the rice trading business. They developed a grudge against Anji over financial disputes and hence decided to kill him.
They hired seven people, including K Venkateswara Rao, K Chakridar, B Koteswara Rao, Noorbasha Galib, Y Kiran Kumar, Ahmed, and Srinivasa Rao, all from erstwhile Guntur and Krishna districts. They kidnapped Anji and threw him into the sea at Chinnapuram. The police recovered gold rings and a chain from the the deceased and Rs 4.3 lakh cash and three two-wheelers from the accused. While the police arrested five of the hired assassins, another two are at large.