Preethi Reddy murder: Brother denies Harsh Narde’s role

HYDERABAD: Even as police are hunting for clues, brother of the man suspected of murdering Preethi Reddy in a Sydney hotel room and dumping her body in a car’s boot in a suitcase before allegedly killing himself has claimed that his sibling would not have carried out such a dastardly attack.

“It is difficult to believe that this could be an act of a single person,” Alok Narde said. “It is sad and unfair to my brother Harshwardhan Narde,” Alok, himself a doctor based in India, said. “We wish to humbly submit that there could still be some other angle or involvement of others,” he said. Alok also said Harsh would not have killed himself by ramming his BMW into a truck which police described as deliberate. He said Harsh had spoken to a friend 20 minutes prior to the road accident telling him that he was on his way home at Tamworth. He had even stopped his car to take the call.

Alok said it was not fair to suspect his brother. “He was conscious enough to follow traffic sense and rules such as stopping his vehicle prior to taking a call,” he said. Alok said the friend had informed him that Harsh sounded ‘composed’ when he spoke to him. This, even after being grilled by police for practically an entire day trying to find out about Preethi’s disappearance as she was known to have visited the hotel where was staying.

When her sister was missing, Nithya Reddy sent a text message to Harsh’s family to enquire if they had any clue about Preethi.