Hyderabad: Priest sentenced to life imprisonment in Saroornagar murder case

The court sentenced Priest to undergo imprisonment for seven years and also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh, of which Rs 9.7 lakh was to be handed to the victim’s family as compensation

Hyderabad: A local court in the city sentenced a priest, A Venkat Sai Krishna, to life imprisonment in the brutal murder case of K Apsara (30), reported at Saroornagar in 2023. Further, the court also sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for seven years.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh, of which Rs 9.7 lakh was to be handed to the victim’s family as compensation.

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Krishna, a priest at a temple and already married, had promised to marry Apsara, a resident of Saroornagar. He lured her to Shamshabad under pretense of a trip to Coimbatore, then murdered her by smothering and concealed her body in a manhole near the Bangaru Maisamma temple in Saroornagar in June 2023.

Krishna had planned the deception, even creating fake flight tickets to gain Apsara’s confidence. He also told Apsara’s mother he was dropping her off at the RGI Airport.

However, he took her in his car to an isolated place in Narkuda in Shamshabad and killed her. After this, he transported the body in the car and dumped it in the manhole and sealed it with cement, attempting to clear all evidence.

The RGI police who were investigating the missing case detained Krishna over suspicion and he spilled the beans.