The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Law & Order

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Saturday, Sep 09, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Law & Order

The murder of an old woman in Mahindra Hills remains a mystery with police yet to pinpoint the motive or identify the killers, writes Marri Ramu

Police grapple with too many loose ends Initially, police believed that the murder was fallout of personal disputes. Then, they surmised that Ambalika, 80, a widow living alone in the posh Mahindra Hills, was killed for some jewellery.

With one clue after the other tumbling out, sleuths thought it was an open and shut case. But even a fortnight after the murder was committed, all the leads were of no use to the police.

The first floor on the victim's bungalow was rented out to a couple who went out on the day of murder. A car driver Raju living in the cellar was away while his wife and maidservant Padma went out for work. On the day of the murder, Padma left a bit early since relatives called on the woman. The visitors were in the house till 1 p.m. The cook returned home five hours later, but smelt rat since the doors were not bolted from inside. She pushed open the doors only to see the woman in a pool of blood with knife injuries on the abdomen.

Security conscious

The unlatched doors led police to believe that some persons -- other than the couple that stayed till 1 p.m. -- came to the house and killed her between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. So security conscious was the victim that she would call up Mahendra Hills Colony Welfare Association even if a local electric lineman knocked on the doors for any repair work. Only after confirming the visitor's identity would she open the doors. A plate left on the dining table suggested that she was in the middle of her lunch or about to have it. Her spectacles were lying on a table in the hall and the television was on. The security precautions the woman used to take and circumstantial evidence naturally swung the needle of suspicion towards persons familiar to her.

Puzzling question

After verifying antecedents of workers, police began looking out for people who would have access to the house. From rag pickers to workers like electricians and local cable operators, police grilled everyone. If taking away gold was the intention of killers why did they not touch or check the house was another puzzling question.

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