The Gooty police on Tuesday cracked the murder case of a 75-year-old woman and arrested the accused and recovered 31 tolas of gold and three bank passbooks all valued at ₹14 lakh.

Hailing from Sirivaram in Garladinne mandal of the district, accused G. Ramanjaneyulu got used to easy money and would vanish for two to three months with cash. On one of his visits to Gooty town, he met the victim Narayanamma, widow of a retired railway employee, said Additional Superintendent of Police G. Ramanjaneyulu at a press conference.

According to police, the accused, finding a lot of gold on her person during his first meeting, had planned decamping with the gold from the woman’s house. He then visited her house regularly and made friends with her relatives. He had asked Narayanamma to keep his saved money with her.

“On January 24 afternoon, as she was going to open the almirah to give him money on his request, Ramanjaneyulu, who had hid a pestle at her house during his early visits, hit the old lady on her head, leading to her death,” said Tadipatri DSP A. Srinivasulu.

He decamped with entire gold and tried to remove all the evidence, but following complaint from the woman’s relatives, the police arrested him in Gooty, where he had gone to visit his son.