The police on Thursday arrested five people in connection with the murder of M. Sreenivas alias ‘Noodles Sreenu’ who was attacked by two bike-borne assailants in Chodavaram mandal on Tuesday night.
According to police officials, investigation thus far has revealed that business rivalry had led to the murder that was committed by people on hire.
The accused have been identified as K. Nageswara Rao from Chodavaram; K. Gopalakrishna, a student from Munagapaka; K. Manikanta; O. Apparao and Manga Pawan Kumar, both auto rickshaw drivers from Chodavaram.
Except for 40-year-old Nageswara Rao, the other accused are in their twenties, Circle Inspector Srinivasa Rao said.
The deceased did several things for a living such as selling noodles and running a photocopying shop.
Mr. Sreenu, along with one Padma, was riding a bike when the assailants waylaid him near Dwarakanagar on the Laxmipuram route and attacked him with iron rods, resulting his instantaneous death.
‘₹35,000 paid in advance’
As per the police, Mr. Sreenu, an RTI activist, had been allegedly harassing Nageswara Rao over the allotment of some shops under the Panchayat quota.
“Vexed with it, Nageswara Rao hatched a plan to eliminate Mr. Sreenu and hired four youngsters for it. The deal was struck at ₹ 2 lakh. “Nageswara Rao allegedly paid ₹35,000 in advance and promised to pay the rest after the job was done,” the Circle Inspector said.
Based on the investigation, the police traced Nageswara Rao that led to the arrest of the other accused.
“It was a case of contract killing in connection with business rivalry,” the Circle Inspector added.