The Hindu : Revenge motive behind painter's murder in Falaknuma

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 16, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Revenge motive behind painter's murder in Falaknuma

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, FEB. 15. The Falaknuma police on Sunday solved the mystery behind the murder of a painter, Mahender, whose charred body was found in an abandoned room near the Falaknuma flyover on February 7, by arresting three persons.

Investigations revealed that a sweeper at Mojamzahi Market, J. Hanumanthu (55), got Mahender killed by hiring two assassins -- B. Sridhar Rao (23) and G. Sadanandam (26) -- to avenge the killing of his second son, Ramakrishna (16), the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sai Krishna, said at a press conference.

A resident of Zebabagh Colony in Asifnagar, Hanumanthu suspected that Mahender murdered Ramakrishna by drowning him when they went for a swim in a local pond after celebrating Holi festival last year.

After registering a case of suspicious death initially, the Jubilee Hills police altered it to murder case and arrested Mahender following a complaint from Hanumanthu. Mahender recently came out of jail on bail.

Hanumanthu bore grudge against Mahender and was waiting for an opportunity to eliminate him.

He hired Sridhar and Sadanandam, residents of Jangammet, to murder Mahender by offering them Rs. 20,000. He paid Rs. 5,000 advance to the duo. As per the plan the duo befriended Mahender. On February 2, they lured Mahender to an isolated place near the flyover saying there was a contract work of painting temples.

They took Mahender to the abandoned room, offered liquor and killed him by smashing his head with boulders. Later, Hanumanthu poured petrol on the body and set it afire.

The murder came to light on February 7 when a local resident noticed the decomposed body. The victim's identity was established following publication of news about the unidentified body in newspapers.

The first clue came when some locals informed the police that Sridhar was spotted near the flyover on the day of the murder. Inspector, John Wesley, and Sub-Inspector, K. Kiran, investigated the case.

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