Three arrested in Telangana labour officer’s murder case

WARANGAL: Hanamkonda police nabbed three persons in connection with the murder of Assistant Labour Officer (ALO) M Anand Reddy on Wednesday.

The police also took the three accused to the forest area between Rampur and Kamalapur villages for a reconstruction of the crime scene.

Afterwards, the decomposed body was shifted to MGM Hospital mortuary for postmortem.

Speaking to media persons, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) N Malla Reddy said, “Three persons - Vengala Shiva Ramakrishna, Meenugu Madhukar and Niggula Shankar - who assisted the main accused in the murder, were arrested. All are residents of Shanigaram village in Warangal Urban district.

"The three main accused P Pradeep Reddy, N Ramesh, and Vikram Reddy are still absconding.”  The DCP said that the murder was pre-planned by the main accused Pradeep Reddy. The ALO had paid Pradeep almost one crore for a transfer, which he demanded back after the transfer fell through. Pradeep allegedly decided to kill him to avoid repaying the money.

Pradeep asked Anand to meet him at Hanamkonda on March 7 and promised to return the money he owed him by handing over some land in Bhupalpally.

“They left towards Bhupalaplly in an Innova Crysta car, along with Shankar and Vikram. The victim had also requested his brother, Shiva Kumar Reddy, to join him before starting for Hanamkonda. By the time Shiva reached the place, he could not locate his brother as there was no mobile network,” he said.

After Anand did not return home, Shiva approached the Hanamkonda police station on March 8 and filed a missing persons case.

As soon as the party reached Rampur forest, the ALO’s hands were tied with rope and his mouth was plastered with tape in the car. The three persons slit his throat and left the body.