TIRUPATI: A software engineer was burnt to death in his car here late on Saturday night as part of a murder plot, police said based on initial investigations. One arrest has been made in this connection.
The charred body of the victim, S Nagaraju (35), was found in the vehicle on the Naidupeta-Puthalapattu road by locals of Ganguudupalle village in Chandragiri constituency around 11.30 pm.
Nagaraju hailed from Brahmanapalli village in Vedurukuppam Mandal. He is survived by his wife Sulochana and two children. His family told the media that the murder was due to an extra-marital affair the deceased’s brother was having with the wife of the local Sarpanch’s brother Rippunjaya.
DSP Venkata Rao told the media that the police arrested suspect B Rippunjaya based on a complaint from the victim's father Jaya Ramaiah. A manhunt has also been launched to arrest the other suspects -- Sarpanch of Brahmanapalli Chanakya Prathap and two others – Gopinath Reddy and Subbanna.
“We identified the body on the basis of the vehicle registration number, his chain and slippers. As per the preliminary investigation, Nagaraju was working at an IT company in Bengaluru. After the murder, the perpetrators tried to make it appear like an accident by pushing the car into a ditch,” the DSP said.
The police also believe the suspects used fuel from Nagaraju's vehicle for the murder. If they had carried the fuel with them, it could establish that the crime was planned in advance, police said.
“Preliminary investigations hint that the accused might have called out Nagaraju for a talk to settle the feud between them and then killed him. Postmortem was done at the crime scene itself. DNA samples have been sent to the forensic department to establish the identity of the deceased. We have begun questioning the arrested person,” the SP added.
The deceased’s family alleged that the Sarpanch, his brother, and two others killed Nagaraju after taking him out on the pretext of evolving a compromise regarding the affair.
“My husband's brother Purushottam had an extra-marital affair with the woman. It was the reason for feuds between the two families. When things are escalating, my husband sent Purushottam to Bengaluru, and he started meditating through Gopi to solve the issue amicably. On Saturday night, they took my husband with them to discuss the matter. They thrashed him. After tying his hands and legs, they locked him in the car and set it afire,” Nagaraju’s wife Sulochana told the media.
