Venkatapur mass murder: Accused says he was inspired by Telugu movie

Police announced the arrest of five persons, including a woman, in connection with the December 16 midnight blaze at Venkatapur in which six persons, including two infants, were burnt alive.

Mancherial: Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of five persons, including a woman, in connection with the December 16 midnight blaze at Venkatapur in which six persons, including two infants, were burnt alive.

Ramagundam Police Commissioner S Chandrashekhar Reddy said the accused were Medi Laxman, a document writer from Luxettipet, Shanigarapu Sujana, a homemaker from Srirampur and the wife of victim Shanigarapu Shanthaiah, Sriramula Ramesh, a tractor driver from Luxettipet, Velpula Sammaiah, daily wage earner from Venkatapur and Arnakonda Anjaiah, a retired SCCL employee from Godavarikhani.

---

Laxman and Ramesh were detained while moving suspiciously during a vehicle check in Mancherial town, while Sujana and her father Anjaiah were apprehended in Srirampur on Tuesday. Sammaiah was nabbed from Venkatapur.

The five are charged with the murder of Masu Shivaiah (48), a village revenue assistant and his wife Rajyalaxmi alias Padma (42), both residents of Venkatapur, her paramour Shanigarapu Shanthaiah (57), a coal miner from Srirampur, Shivaiah’s niece Nemalikonda Mounika (24), and her daughters Prashanti (3) and eighteen-month-old Himabindu.

The Commissioner said Laxman had admitted to committing the crime when Sujana and Anjaiah agreed to give him 360 square yards of land in Luxettipet if he killed Shanthaiah for having a live-in relationship with Padma and for refusing to share money earned through selling an asset, and Shivaiah for helping Shanthaiah and Padma live together. Laxman, he said, had confessed that he drew inspiration from the Junior NTR starrer Rakhi movie which was released in 2006. He said he wanted to help Sujana take her revenge and gain monetary benefits extended to Shanthaiah from the SCCL to Sujana if Shanthaiah died in an accident.

Laxman said the plan was to kill the three, by setting the hut on fire and portray it as an accident.

However, a communication gap resulted in the accused not knowing about the presence of Mounika and her children in the hut that night. He said Ramesh and Sammaiah had executed the plan. Ramesh, who was booked in a road accident in 2015, and Sammaiah sprinkled petrol all over the hut and set it on fire at 12.30 am as planned. Laxman said he had promised Ramesh Rs 4 lakh while Sammaiah was roped in with the promise of Rs 1.50 lakh. He revealed that he planned the offence for six months and had made two unsuccessful attempts earlier by hitting Shanthaiah with a jeep and later an auto-rickshaw.

The Commissioner, who said Ramesh and Sammaiah had bought fuel for Rs.5,000 from a filling station in Naspur mandal centre, said Shanthaiah’s two sons and daughters were not involved in the conspiracy. Shanthaiah and Sujana had lodged complaints against each other with the Srirampur police in the past, he added.

Commending the police team for cracking the murder in just four days, the Commissioner said there were 16 special teams on the job, including eight Circle Inspectors, 15 Sub-Inspectors, and about 40 constables.