Hyderabad: A 26-year-old TCS employee was murdered for refusing to lend Rs 10,000. The accused, Naresh Reddy, was arrested on Wednesday.
Vallipalli Hashmi, 26, nephew of AP CPM state secretary P. Madhu had gone missing on Tuesday. After a search his body was found under a railway culvert near Lingampally railway station.
Police said the accused, an electrician, had called Hashmi asking him to meet him at Lingampally. Police said Naresh Reddy asked for Rs 10,000 from Hashmi which the latter didn’t have.
An argument broke out and Reddy then dragged Hashmi to an isolated spot and smashed his head with a stone. Reddy was traced after police tracked him down to a house in Kukatpally using call data.
Hashmi had left office on Monday around 5 pm and had told his family that he would be going to Lingampally to meet a friend. Later, he called a friend saying he would be home soon. The friend waited an hour and after receiving continuous ‘switched off’ messages from Hashmi’s phone, informed his family.
Hashmi's family searched for him and filed a complaint at Gachibowli police station. Based on call data, cops were able to trace Hashmi’s phone to a location near Kukatpally metro, where the accused S. Naresh Reddy was nabbed from a house.
“Reddy confessed to the crime. He killed Hashmi, stole his gold chain, his phone and fled on his bike,” Gachibowli inspector J. Ramesh said. Meanwhile, Hashmi's family is still coming to terms with their loss. Colleagues at Hashmi's previous workplace (HCL) too remembered a "kind heart" who was "always ready to help others". Hashmi was previously at HCL and had joined TCS just three weeks ago.
"He was a calm, helpful guy, who we could always depend on. We have lost such a good friend," HCL regional manager, Nirmal Kumar Behuria, said. Reddy was produced before court on Wednesday after his formal arrest.
Hashmi named after slain playwright
Hashmi, 26, was named after famous playwright and director Safdar Hashmi, who was brutally murdered in 1989. Hashmi’s father, Gagarin was named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, as he was born in the same year as Gagarin’s space trip in 1961.
Hashmi's family had hard core Communist beliefs and the techie was brought up without any superstition. His namesake — Safdar Hashmi — was well known Communist figure. He was murdered while staging a play in Jhandapur, near New Delhi. Ten people were convicted for the crime including Congress leader Mukesh Sharma.
“Hashmi was brought in the same manner as his father and never had any superstition. He was a bold guy,” said P. Madhu, the CPM state secretary of AP.
