Arrests in Venkatapur midnight blaze case to be recorded soon

Arrests in connection with the Venkatapur midnight blaze are likely to be recorded shortly

Mancherial: Arrests in connection with the Venkatapur midnight blaze are likely to be recorded shortly, most probably on Tuesday.

The investigation so far is learned to have confirmed that the illicit affair between victims Shanigarapu Shanthaiah and Padma, reportedly with consent from Padma’s husband Shivaiah, triggered the murder, allegedly masterminded by Shanthaiah’s wife Srujana and her paramour Laxman.

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Call data records of the suspects have been analyzed and 10 persons were interrogated at the Kasipet police station on Monday.

According to police sources, Laxman allegedly earlier made two unsuccessful attempts to kill Shanthaiah and succeeded in the third bid with the help of two locals and some others from Luxettipet.

“Laxman kidnapped Shanthaiah once and tried to murder him in the past. The families of Padma and Srujana had lodged complaints against each other with the Srirampur police four months back. Srujana and Laxman again planned the murder when they confirmed through locals that Shanthaiah, Padma and Shivaiah were living together in Venkatapur for the last three months,” a source said.

Some persons from Luxettipet were detained as part of the investigations. Cops also grilled family members of Shanthaiah as to why they were not willing to collect his mortal remains preserved at a mortuary of Mancherial.

Meanwhile, Ramagundam Police Commissioner S Chandrashekhar Reddy visited the scene of the crime at Venkatapur on Monday. Police are said to have reconstructed the crime scene by taking the suspects to the spot. However, this is yet to be confirmed.

Masu Shivaiah, his wife Padma, their niece Mounika, her daughters Himabindu and Sweety, and Shanthaiah, were burnt alive when their tile-roofed hut caught fire around midnight on Friday.