Khanapuram Haveli police with the gang of supari killers in Khammam.
Khammam: Khanapuram Haveli police in Khammam nabbed a gang of supari killers hired to kill a man, informed Inspector of Police Bhanuprakash.
According to the CI, a man Konduri Ramanjaneyulu alias Ramu of Suvarnapuram in Mudigonda mandal in the district had an extramarital affair with the wife of a man Thota Dharma of the same village.
Dharma came to know about this illicit affair leading to quarrels between the husband and wife for some time. The accused Ramanjaneyulu planned to murder Dharma to continue the illicit affair with the latter’s wife.
He contacted a person, Dantala Venkata Narayana and explained his plan to kill Dharma. Narayana introduced his friend, a rowdy sheeter, Pagadala Vijay Kumar alias Chanti to Ramanjaneyulu, who agreed to pay Rs 20 lakh as supari for the murder and paid Rs 5 lakh as advance.
The accused kidnapped Dharma at a dhaba at Damsalapuram on March 12 and took him to a deserted place and showed him to Narayana through a video call to confirm his identity. The accused asked Narayana to pay some more money before they would kill Dharma.
But later Narayana did not respond to their calls, fed up with lack of response from him the accused threatened Dharma; extorted Rs 1.5 lakh in cash and a gold chain and left him free.
Dharma approached Khanapuram Haveli police; lodged a complaint explaining the kidnap episode and danger to his life. The police registered a case and an investigation under the supervision of ACP (Town) Ramana Murthy was launched into the case.
Based on reliable information about the presence of the accused at a mango orchard in the city, police arrested Ramanjaneyulu, Venkata Narayana, Vijay Kumar, Vemula Krishna and Burri Vijay. Two knives, an air gun, Rs 90,000 in cash, four cell phones and a car were seized from the accused, the CI said.