Hyderabad: An autorickshaw driver who killed his cousin after a drunken brawl was arrested by the Chandanagar police on Friday. The accused, R. Ramana Rao, had emptied the bank accounts of the victim, R. Swetha Laxmi, 42. When she asked him about it, he strangled her at her home in Papireddy Colony on August 4.
Chandanagar inspe-ctor B. Ravinder said that during the investigation it was found that Ramana Rao, a paternal cousin of Laxmi, was not seen in the area after her death. A team was formed to trace him and he was nabbed on Thursday evening and detained for questioning.
Police said Laxmi used to live alone after separating from her husband. “Laxmi and Ramana had developed physical intimacy. They were habituated to drinking and Ram-ana was using her savings to purchase alcohol. He withdrew some money from Laxmi’s bank acco-unt. When she asked about the money, he strangled her with a cloth, and took away her gold ornaments.”
