Ibrahimpatnam shooting: Rivalry between realtors that went awry
Hyderabad: The Ibrahimpatnam firing which killed two realtors, it has turned out, was a real estate dispute, primarily rivalry between realtors, that took an ugly turn. The Rachakonda Police, cracking the case in less than three days, arrested prime suspect and the third realtor in the plot, M Matta Reddy, along with five other suspects […]
Hyderabad: The Ibrahimpatnam firing which killed two realtors, it has turned out, was a real estate dispute, primarily rivalry between realtors, that took an ugly turn.
The Rachakonda Police, cracking the case in less than three days, arrested prime suspect and the third realtor in the plot, M Matta Reddy, along with five other suspects in connection with the killing here on Thursday. Two suspects are absconding while the police have seized two pistols and 19 live rounds from the arrested persons.
The arrested persons were Matta Reddy, 43, a realtor from Chaitanyapuri, Khaja Mohiuddin, 34, a watchman from Cherlapatelguda, B Bikshapathi, 34, a farmer from Kondapaka in Medak, Syed Raheem, 35, an AC mechanic from Saroornagar, Sameer Ali, 24, a private employee and Raju Khan, 24, a trader, both from Bihar. Two suspects, Chandan Siban and Sonu, were absconding.
Police said the shooting of N Srinivas Reddy, 40, and his close friend K Raghavender Reddy, 40, both realtors from Meerpet, were linked to a land dispute in Cherlapatelguda village in Ibrahimpatnam.
According to the police, in 2014 and 2018, Matta Reddy purchased a few plots in a layout venture there. Adjacent to this venture were a few plots that were being developed by Srinivas Reddy in the name of his driver D Krishna by virtue of agricultural land lease agreement from the land owners and with the help of Raghavender Reddy.
“Since then, the victims were often visiting the land as part of the development activity. Taking advantage of the absence of the actual plot owners in the adjacent venture, Srinivas Reddy started meddling with the house plots in the venture too,” Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said.
Recently, Matta Reddy erected a fence around the plots, which was objected to by Srinivas Reddy, who claimed its ownership on account of the agricultural land lease agreement.
“This did not go down well with Matta Reddy, who was making money by alienating the plots on a commission basis. Srinivas Reddy also warned him to keep away from the venture, since he took up development work in its close proximity. Matta Reddy then decided to eliminate Srinivas Reddy,” Bhagwat said.
A sum of Rs.1 lakh and house plots worth several lakhs was what Ibrahimpatnam firing prime suspect M. Matta Reddy allegedly offered his watchman and a farmer to help him bump off his rival realtors.
According to the police, the killing was over the interference by one of the victims, N Srinivas Reddy in the land deals Matta Reddy was carrying out in plots adjacent to the former’s real estate venture. With Matta Reddy reportedly losing out on his business because of this, he allegedly roped in his watchman Khaja Moinuddin, who in turn roped in his Bhikshapathi, a farmer. These two were offered Rs.1 lakh each and house plots in the land parcels Matta Reddy dealt with.
Moihuddin also got his relative Syed Raheem to join them, while another suspect Sameer Ali helped by procuring a firearm from Chandan Sivan and Sonu in Bihar, with the latter two now absconding.
As per the plan, on Tuesday morning, when Srinivas Reddy and his partner friend K Raghavendra Reddy visited their venture in a car driven by Raghavender Reddy, Moihuddin and Bikshapathi stopped the car and after confirming the identities of the victims, opened fire.
“Mohiuddin first shot at Srinivas Reddy. He somehow managed to get out of the car and started running, when Mohiuddin chased him and fired from a close range, including at his head, causing his death on the spot,” Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said.
Raghavendra Reddy meanwhile tried to escape on the car, and Bikshapathi shot him in the chest, before the assailants fled the spot.
On being alerted of the shooting, the Ibrahimpatnam police rushed to the spot and shifted Raghavendra Reddy to a private hospital at BN Reddy Nagar, where he died under treatment.
Investigation has revealed that Matta Reddy, who has a significant criminal history, had also changed his name from Mereddy Ashok Reddy to evade police records and hush up his criminal past. He was involved in cheating cases and was also arrested and jailed earlier.
The victims too were found to be involved in various cases, police said, adding that while Srinivas Reddy was involved in an assault case, Raghavendra Reddy was convicted and sentenced in the double murder of two women advocates, after which he managed to get his sentence commuted.
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