Vijayawada: Guntur police on Thursday arrested a woman, her husband and her lover for murdering her mother to get at her properties.
Nagarampalem inspector K. Venkata Reddy alleged that Mannam Bhargavi strangled her mother Alapati Lakshmi on October 10 with the help of her lover Mannam Venkata Sivaram while her husband Mannam Ramanjaneyulu took an active part in planning of the crime. The police had rushed to Lakshmi’s residence at about 10.30 pm after being alerted by neighbours who had heard her screams and found her dead.
The police collected CCTV footage from the neighbourhood and found Bhargavi and Sivaram leaving the house at the time the murder was committed, the inspector said.
Mr Venkata Reddy said that Lakshmi’s son and husband had died years ago and she had married Bhargavi to Ramanjaneyulu. The couple was living at Achampeta in Guntur district and were working in a hotel owned Sivaram. Bhargavi and Sivaram soon began an extramarital affair.
In the meantime, she had been pressurising Lakshmi to transfer the house and farmland in her name but the mother refused. Bhargavi, Ramanjaneyulu and Sivaram then hatched a plan to kill Lakshmi to get the properties.
Accordingly, Bhargavi and Sivaram came to Guntur on October 10 while Ramajaneyulu stayed back in Achampet.
They reached Lakshmi’s residence and were let inside. When Lakshmi again refused to transfer the property in Bhargavi’s name, they attacked her with a stick.
Sivaram and Bhargavi then allegedly strangled Lakshmi and left. The next day, Bhargavi returned to Guntur and took part in the last rites of her mother.
The police, while investigating, found Bhargavi and Sivaram entering the house on October 10 and questioned her.
She broke down during interrogation and confessed to the crime. The police arrested Bhargavi, her husband and her lover on Thursday for the murder of Lakshmi.
