Man who killed 16 women in past years and out on bail arrested for two fresh murders

Hyderabad: A serial killer who robbed and murdered 18 women in past 20 years has been arrested by the North Zone Task Force on Tuesday. He had been given life sentence by a court after he was found guilty of 16 murders and thefts and killed two more while he was out on bail in the last few months, police said.

Forty-year-old Maina Ramulu, a stone-cutter, was caught by police during investigation into a woman ‘missing’ case under Mulugu police station limits. The Siddipet and Ghatkesar police of Rachakonda effected the arrest, said Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar.

Police said he had been arrested several times in the past in connection with 21 cases, including 16 of murder and robbery, four property offences and one case of escaping from custody while being admitted at a mental institution. Police said he was a life convict and on bail following an appeal he made to the high court.

The arrest was made after a complaint came to the Jubilee Hills police that resident Kavala Venkatamma 50, was missing. Her body was found near the railway track of Ankushapur village in Ghatkesar after a week of her disappearance.

To detect the case, the North Zone Task Force team along with Ghatkesar Police verified approximately 500 CCTV footages from the Yousufguda toddy shop compound to the Ankushapur railway track. The cops verified the modus operandi of the accused and identified the culprit as Ramulu.

“As he was a habitual offender with a criminal history, he was detained for questioning. He confessed to have killed the missing woman and also another woman. The second woman is yet to be identified.”

The man confessed that he took the woman with him after they met at a toddy outlet to a secluded place, strangled her to death and fled with her valuables, said the commissioner.