New twist in NRI murder case

Hyderabad: During the second day of interrogation of the two accused in NRI businessman Chigurupati Jayaram’s murder case, police found that more people were involved. It was found that at least one more person was present at the house of the main accused Rakesh Reddy when Jayaram was killed and a few others, including a TV mimicry artiste, had helped Rakesh in bringing the victim to his flat for extorting money.

On Thursday, West Zone DCP AR Srinivas and Banjara Hills ACP K S Rao visited Rakesh Reddy’s flat on Road Number 10, Jubilee Hills where the murder took place. Rakesh Reddy and the second accused, Srinivas, a watchman, were also brought to the flat for the recreation of the crime scene.

Cops also questioned Jayaram’s niece Sikha Chowdary and employees of Jayaram’s business entity Coastal Bank for about seven hours at Banjara Hills police station till 8 pm. “I have answered all the questions asked by the police. Since the case is under investigation, I cannot talk about it. Soon, I will talk to the media,” Sikha Chowdary told reporters after the police interrogation.

Task Force police picked up seven suspects including a history-sheeter of SR Nagar police station Nagesh, his friend Vishal and some real estate businessman in relation to the case for questioning.

It has emerged that Rakesh entrapped Jayaram with the help of a mimicry artiste, Surya, by making him talk to Jayaram. Surya told him that a woman would like to meet him at a flat in Jubilee Hills. Surya brought the victim to Rakesh’s flat at Jubilee Hills on January 30, after which Rakesh, with the help of Srinivas and two other persons including Nagesh, threatened Jayaram and forced him to call people for money.

“Jayaram was smothered with a pillow by Rakesh while Srinivas held his legs. We have to verify the exact role of Nagesh and his friends like Vishal,” said a police official who is part of the probe.

Though the Krishna district police said that Rakesh claimed to have given Rs 4.17 crore to Jayaram and a part of it was transferred through RTGS to the bank accounts, West Zone police, in their probe, could not find the money trail to account for the claims. Police are now verifying if Rakesh, who has a criminal record, had lied about giving money to Jayaram. “We questioned Sikha Chowdary and four others today. Sikha said that she went to Jayaram’s house on February 1 after the murder to pick some documents. We questioned her about Jayaram’s businesses and verified some documents including IT returns. Rakesh said that he gave money to Jayaram in cash and we are checking if he had the financial capability to give Rs 4.17 crore,” West Zone DCP A R Srinivas said.

The Call Detail Records (CDR) of Rakesh Reddy reportedly indicated that apart from Nallakunta inspector Srinivasulu and Ibrahimpatnam ACP Malla Reddy, he also spoke to some other cops after committing the murder on January 31. But the DCP said that there is no truth behind the allegations. “There are some allegations against some police officials. If required we will question them further. Our team will go to Nandigama on Friday,” the DCP said.