Peddapalli: Police took three more persons into custody on Tuesday in connection with the murder of advocate couple Gattu Vamana Rao and his wife PV Nagamani.
Babu, Raghu and Srinivas, who made the sickles that were used to kill the lawyer couple, were taken into custody and are being interrogated from various angles.
The three, who came to Manthani from another state, have been manufacturing knives, sickles, axes and other tools on the outskirts of the town.
During interrogation, Bittu Srinu alias Thulasigari Srinivas, who is A-4 in the murder case, said he manufactured sickles using the iron plates of a tractor based on the instructions of A-1 Kunta Srininivas.
Since both were having issues with Vamana Rao, the two decided to eliminate the advocate couple. As part of their plan, Kunta Srinivas asked Bittu Srinu to manufacture sickles four months ago. Based on the information given by Bittu Srinu, police took Babu, Raghu and Srinivas into custody and questioned them.
The police are also cross-checking information given by Bittu Srinu with Manthani Municipal officials. Bittu Srinu, during interrogation, said he developed a grudge against Vamana Rao when the latter stalled the income of Rs 30,000 per month he used to get from Manthani gram panchayat by leasing a tractor from 2015 to 2019.
He lost the income after Vamana Rao had the contract cancelled by mounting pressure on panchayat officials in April 2019. Police cross-checked with municipal officials whether Bittu Srinu had leased the tractor, period of engagement, date of cancellation of contract and reasons for cancelling.
Srinu also informed that the reason for developing enmity against the advocates was that Vamana Rao used to carry out a vicious campaign against Putta Lingamma Charitable Trust, which was run under the chairmanship of Srinu. This is also being investigated by the police.