PEDDAPALLI: The Godavarikhani One Town police arrested six individuals for murdering a realtor and staging it as a death caused by snakebite on Thursday. DCP Vaibhav Gaikwad and ACP T Srinivas Rao said that Koppera Praveen, who initially began his career as a local journalist and later transitioned to work in the real estate sector, had been married to a woman named Lalitha for 15 years. However, in recent years, he engaged in an extramarital relationship with another woman in Godavarikhani, while dealing with alcohol addiction. This led to disputes between him and his wife to escalate, straining their relationship.
Lalitha reportedly developed a grudge towards her husband and hatched a plan to kill him. She collaborated with five locals, including a snake catcher to stage a natural death on October 9, when Praveen returned home in an inebriated state. The gang suffocated him to death and used a snake to bite him.
The following morning, Lalitha informed her neighbours and relatives that her husband failed to wake up and claimed that he had died. Praveen’s mother, Mariyamma, suspected foul play in her son’s death and reported it to the police. During the investigation, Lalitha confessed to the crime. The police subsequently arrested Lalitha, along with Machha Suresh, Indarapu Satish, Nannaparaju, Bheema Ganesh, and Masu Srinivas, for their involvement in the murder.