A ward volunteer of the area, Rayavarapu Venkatesh, 26, was working with him as a part-timer. On Sunday night, around 10 pm, Venkatesh went to the house of Srinivas and returned to the shop. Srinivas, who went home after midnight, found his mother Varalakshmi, 72, dead on the bed, with the gold chain on her neck missing as well.
He then informed the Pendurthi police, who examined CCTV footage and found that Venkatesh had visited the house.
Suspecting that he might have used a pillow to murder her by asphyxiation, they took him into custody and are investigating.