Telangana murder cracked: Wife, cabbie bro in passion crime

HYDERABAD: Police said Lakpathi and Roja were into an illicit relationship and decided to kill Naik. The body of Naik, who went missing on August 24 and believed to have been killed on the same day, is yet to be traced.
Nearly three weeks after a cabbie was drugged, wrapped in a fish net and drowned in Krishna river backwaters in Nagarjunasagar, five accused were arrested by Raidurgam police on Saturday on the charges of killing him. Cab driver Dhanavath Ragya Naik’s (28) wife Roja and her brother-in-law Sabhavath Lakpathi were among those arrested along with Chennupally Venkata Shiva, Man Singh and V Balaji, police said. The main accused gave supari to Man Singh to execute the murder.
The body of Naik, who went missing on August 24 and believed to have been killed on the same day, is yet to be traced. “During the investigation, we came to know that there were differences between Naik and Lakpathi and the victim had attacked Lakpathi three months ago,” Raidurgam inspector N Tirupathi said. Police said Lakpathi and Roja were into an illicit relationship and had decided to eliminate Naik. Lakpathi contacted Shiva for help. “Lakpathi called Naik to hand over some money at Nalgonda. Both set out in a car on August 24. En route, Shiva joined them and got into the car.
It was during the journey, Shiva gave badam milk laced with sedatives to Naik,” police said. Later, the duo took him to Krishna backwaters in Nagarjunasagar. The accused shifted Naik to a boat, which was managed by Man Singh, who was paid `2.20 lakh. After sailing for 10km along the river, the accused wrapped Naik in the fishing net. As he choked to his death, the accused tied a stone to Naik’s body and dumped it in the river. Roja filed a complaint on the same day that her husband had gone missing.