Alcoholic’s search for mobile after double-murder lands him in jail

While Shiva was initially arrested for the murders committed on October 16, using his fingerprints the police also arrested him in another murder from March 2023.
Shiva, a resident of Dasarlapally, earned his living by performing at events but is an alcoholic. His parents are farmers. The accused is also a purported sexual predator.

Rachakonda commissioner of police G. Sudheer Babu explained last week's murder. The deceased couple, Ushaiah, 70, and Shanthamma, 65, managed a mango farm of Manohar Rao.

"When Manohar couldn’t reach them, he asked Mahender, a local worker, to check on them. Mahender was then horrified to discover the bodies. A case was registered. With no CCTV footage and initial inquiries ruling out revenge, police investigated using conventional mode. The technical team checked the call details. During the investigation, they found that the last call from the deceased's phone was made to Shiva. When he was questioned, Shiva said he received the call from Ushaiah because he had once before helped in the repair of a borewell in the farm and that is how he knew him," the CP said
Sudheer Babu added, “The post-mortem report revealed that the food particles found in the couple’s stomach were digested. The report concluded they died between 8.00 pm and 8.30 pm. However, there was a call from Ushaiah’s phone to Shiva at 8.27 pm which raised suspicion."

The fingerprints found on a sickle linked Shiva to this case but also to the murder of one Shailaja Reddy.

In that case, Shiva allegedly killed her with an axe after she rejected his romantic advances. Shiva had staged the murder as a burglary. However, the fingerprints on the vodka bottle found and on a cupboard door handle in the scene of crime were saved. When the fingerprints team analysed Shiva's fingerprints, it matched.