HYDERABAD: Prime accused in the
Pranay murder case, T Maruthi Rao, allegedly committed suicide in a room at Arya Vysya Bhavan, Khairatabad, on Sunday morning. A purported suicide note, addressed to his daughter Amrutha and seeking her forgiveness, was found near the body.
Rao had allegedly ordered the killing of Pranay in 2018 because his daughter Amrutha married a Dalit against his wishes. Rao was from the Vysya community. Amrutha was pregnant at the time of 24-year-old Pranay's murder in Miryalguda. Maruthi Rao, who was arrested, was out on bail.
D Pooja, a supervisor at Arya Vysya Bhavan, said Rao checked-in around 6.30pm on Saturday. "He was annoyed with the condition of the room (306) allotted to him . He went out around 8pm for dinner with his driver. After returning, he went back to his room again, " she added.
"The family members called Rao, but he was not responding to their calls. They called the driver to check on him. Around 6.30am on Sunday the driver knocked on the door. When there was no response, we called police," P Mallikarjuna, receptionist at the guest house, said.
Police broke open room 306 door and found Rao's body on the bed.
Father may have regretted killing Pranay, says Amrutha“He was lying holding his phone, while there was a suicide note next to him on the bed. The suicide note, according to police, said, “Amrutha go back to your mother, I am sorry”. “We noticed he was frothing from the mouth,” the receptionist added.
“We reached the spot around 8am. CLUES Team is collecting evidence from the crime scene. We found he would regularly stay at Arya Vysya Bhavan,” Saifabad inspector Saidi Reddy said. Police seized the suicide note, an unidentified poison bottle and shifted the body to Osmania Hospital for an autopsy.
Reacting to the suicide, Amrutha said she came to know about her father’s death through the media and claimed she was not in touch with him since Pranay’s death. “He may have committed suicide due to regret. He might have realised that he had done a mistake. But I do not have any first-hand information about the suicide. I have not been in touch with my father,” she added.
Though police had filed the charge sheet in the
Pranay murder case in June 2019, he was served a copy on February 29, 2020. Rao’s family suspects it (charge sheet) might have pushed him to take his own life as he was named ‘Accused number 1’.
As the case was scheduled to be heard by a local court on Tuesday, Maruti arrived in Hyderabad to engage a lawyer.
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