Techie’s murder: Father-in-law gave ‘supari’ to contract killer

Hyderabad: The KPHB police investigating the suspected honour killing case of software engineer Venkat Narayan Reddy have found that his father-in-law K Venkateshwar Reddy, who was upset with his daughter marrying against his wish, allegedly struck a contract killing deal of Rs 4.5 lakh with prime suspect Srinivas Reddy.

According to the police, though the couple belonged to the same community, Venkateshwar Reddy bore a grudge against Venkat, who was allegedly “not equal to him in wealth and status”.

The investigation revealed that the couple, who were in New Delhi, was contacted by Venkateshwar Reddy and in the guise of performing their marriage again in a traditional way, convinced them to return to Prakasam in Andhra Pradesh.

It is learned that confining his daughter at home, Venkateshwar Reddy sent Venkat away and was trying to get her married to another person. However, she stood her ground and continued to be in contact over phone with Venkat.

“This enraged Venkateshwar Reddy and he decided to kill Venkat with the help of his relative Srinivas Reddy, who initially demanded Rs.5 lakh but fixed the ‘supari’ for Rs.4.5 lakh,” police said.

Srinivas Reddy and his accomplices Ashik and Kashi, had taken Venkat from his room in the car to Raidurgam. After getting him drunk, they strangled him to death with a towel in a moving car. They then went to the forest area in Jinnaram in Sangareddy where they burnt the body using petrol.

After the murder, Srinivas Reddy had informed Venkateshwar Reddy, and fled to Kurnool, from where he again called Reddy for money. The KPHB Police, who analysed call data records, took them into custody and they confessed to the crime, after which they led the police to the charred remains of the body.