Four arrested for murder of student in Telangana

HYDERABAD: Based on the label on the empty liquor bottles found at the crime scene and CCTV camera feed at the liquore store, Nalgonda police solved the murder of 20-year-old student D Naveen and arrested four persons. The accused confessed to have killed Naveen on the assumption that black magic performed by his father had resulted in the death of a member in their family six months ago.
On the evening of May 20, Naveen — a resident of Urban Colony in Nalgonda town — was bludgeoned to death in an isolated area at Kathalagudem in the town by unidentified persons. Police team investigating the murder found empty liquor bottles at the crime scene and based on the labels on the bottles, they identified the liquor store from where the bottles were purchased. “Our team went to the liquor store and verified the CCTV camera footage to zero in on the suspects,” Nalgonda DSP G Venkateshwar Reddy said.
In the next few days, police rounded up suspects — truck driver N Srikanth (25), paramedical student D Harish (21), private employee M Sekhar (24) and labourer K Raju (20) — from Naveen’s neighbourhood. “The suspects confessed to their crime during questioning,” Nalgonda 1 Town inspector N Suresh said.
Harish’s brother D Ramesh, a labourer, committed suicide by hanging six months ago due to ill-health. “Family members of Harish, his brother-in-law and Srikanth’s family went to a fakir in Miryalaguda town, seeking answers for the sudden death of Ramesh. The fakir said that someone had performed black magic on Ramesh and the accused suspected the role of Naveen’s father Balaiah with whom Ramesh’s family has a land dispute. To avenge death of Ramesh, they hatched a plan to kill Naveen,” the DSP said.
As per the plan, the accused invited Naveen for a party at an isolated place and after getting him drunk, attacked him with bottles and boulders, killing him on the spot. The accused were sent to judicial remand.