KAMAREDDY: Police have arrested five persons, including a woman and a minor boy, in connection with the murder of six members of the same family belonging to Makloor village in Nizamabad district.
While four of the bodies were recovered, efforts are on to trace the other two.
The accused—Medida Prashanth, his aides Gaglothu Vishnu and Banothu Vamsi, his mother Vaddera and a minor male relative—have reportedly confessed to killing Pune Prasad, his wife Sannvika, their twin daughters Chytrik and Chytrika, and his sisters Shravani and Swapna. They were also trying to kill Prasad’s mother Sushila before being arrested, the police said, adding that more details will be divulged once the investigation is completed.
The cops seized a Tata Altroz car, a motorcycle, land registration documents, Rs 30,000 in cash, five cell phones, a wire, two petrol bottles, gold ornaments and several other personal belongings from the accused.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Kamareddy Superintendent of Police (SP) Sindhu Sharma said the police first found the burnt body of Swapna near Padmajiwadi under Sadashivanagar police station limits in Kamareddy district. A special team, with the Sadashivanagar inspector in charge, was constituted to investigate the case. The team detected the other murders and identified the accused, the SP added.
Criminal history
Stating that Prashanth and Prasad were from the same village and used to be close friends, she said that the latter had fled to Dubai after being accused of stalking and abetment to suicide under Sections 354 D and 306 of the IPC following the death of a local woman in 2018. He used to keep track of the developments in the village and the case through Prashanth.
While still in Dubai, Prasad gave a personal loan of Rs 3.50 lakh to the main accused. However, he was arrested upon his return to his native village in October 2022 and subsequently imprisoned. After his release, the residents of Makloor boycotted Prasad’s family owing to his criminal background. Soon after, he, along with his family members, moved to Palvancha village under Machareddy police station limits.
However, Prasad had accumulated huge debts to sustain his family. At this juncture, he asked Prashanth to return the loan amount or lend him enough money to manage his immediate financial needs. Because of his criminal history, he was also unable to secure a loan from the bank. It was at this point that Prashanth suggested that Prasad get his family residence in Makloor, which was not being used, registered in his name so that he could apply for the loan and share the amount with him. Hoping to get around Rs 25 lakh in loan, Prasad transferred the ownership of the house but Prashanth reneged on their agreement.
Subsequently, Prashanth hatched a plan to murder him and his family. He sought the assistance of Vamshi and Vishnu by agreeing to pay them Rs 60,000 for helping him. On November 29, Prashanth asked Prasad to meet him near the Madanapally forest area.SP Sindhu said that they consumed liquor in a secluded spot before Prashanth, along with his accomplices, killed Prasad with a stone and buried his body in the forest. His body is yet to be found, she added.
Deception and murder
Two days later, Prashanth informed Sannvika and Sravani that the police were looking for Prasad and that he was hiding in a secret place. Under the pretext of helping them, he took both of them in a car towards Nizamabad. He dropped Sravani at a lodge in the city while he said he would help Sannvika meet her husband. With Sannvika, he proceeded towards Basara and picked up Vamshi and Vishnu on the way.
During the journey, Prashanth strangled Sannvika to death and threw her body into the Godavari river from the Basara bridge, the SP said, adding that her body is yet to be traced. Subsequently, he told Sravani that he had helped Sannvika connect with her husband. Then three of the accused, along with Sravani, proceeded towards Hyderabad on National Highway 44.
Strangled, body burnt
On the way, they killed Sravani in the car by strangling her with a rope and burned her body using petrol near Vadiyaram village under Chegunta police station limits, the SP said.“They returned to Makloor after that. Subsequently, Prashanth, with the help of his mother and a minor boy, brought Sushila, Swapna, Chytrik and Chytrika to Nizamabad. There, he kept them in a lodge near the railway station under the pretext of helping them reconnect with their family,” she added.
On December 4, Prashanth and the other accused, including the juvenile, picked up Chytrik and Chytrika and headed towards Soan Bridge near Balkonda in a car. They killed the twins, stuffed their bodies in bags, and threw those into the water from Soan bridge, the SP added.
On December 13, the group took Swapna, killed her in the car, and burned her body with petrol in an open area near Padmajiwadi. However, Sushila managed to escape from the lodge. While the accused were looking for Sushila, the police apprehended the suspects. The case is still under investigation in Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Medak and Nirmal districts, the SP added.