Hyderabad: In a near repeat of the Attapur incident, a man and his brother on Sunday hacked to death in broad daylight a person who they suspected had murdered their son.
The victim, Thota Raju, 35, died on the spot in the attack at Nagaram on the city outskirts. There was one critical difference. In this case, Raju was not a suspect in the killing of his friend Kavali Krishna in January 2017.
In the Attapur incident on September 26, J. Ramesh was hacked on the main road by the father and uncle of Mahesh Goud, whom he was suspected of murdering.
Speaking about Sunday’s incident, Maheshwaram inspector A. Arjunaiah said that Raju and his friend Kavali Krishna went to Kothur on some work in January 2017. Raju returned home but Krishna went missing. Raju could not explain where Krishna went. Three days later, Krishna was found dead on the railway tracks at Shadnagar. Police registered a case of death under suspicious circumstances, which was later closed, inspector Arjunaiah said.
Krishna’s family always suspected that Raju had murdered Krishna. Over the months, they attacked Raju’s family members at Nagaram and set ablaze his hut. Krishna’s father K. Shankaraiah and a few of his relatives of arrested after the incident.
“Raju was initially suspected to have involved in the murder. There was no evidence available against him and the case was closed by the Shadnagar police,” Mr Arjunaiah said.
Following the attack on his family, Raju shifted to Shadnagar. On Sunday morning, Raju and his father Narasimha returned to Nagaram to meet a friend to borrow money.
When they were going back, Krishna’s father Shankaraiah and brother Madhu Chander attacked Raju with sickles and hacked him to death in public, the inspector said.
Shankaraiah and Chander were taken into custody for questioning and a case of murder has been registered against them, the inspector. Raju is survived by his wife and two sons, all living in Shadnagar.
Responding to a query, the inspector said no charges were framed against Raju in the case of Krishna’s suspicious death. “It was only Krishna’s family members and relatives who were assuming that Raju was responsible for Krishna’s death and killed him to take revenge.”
