Kakinada: Serial killer, Vellanki Simhadri, alias Siva, 38, has killed 10 people in Krishna, East and West Godavari districts, within a span of 30 seconds to three minutes each, by administering them cyanide as prasadam under the pretence of ‘rice-pulling coins.’
He chose his victims without discriminating on the basis of caste, creed, religion or relationship. He murdered them very quietly and, therefore, it is very difficult to investigate the case. The police could not make any sense of it.
However, only after Kati Nagaraju of Satrampadu, in Eluru, died at Siva’s hands and it was said that the post-mortem report found ‘poison’ in the body of Nagaraju that the police investigated the incident and brought it to light.
However, earlier, similar deaths were reported from Eluru and I Town police registered a suspicious case death as Chodavarapu Suryanarayana, alias Suribabu, of Vangayagudem, died on the way.
Had the police cracked the case earlier, they might saved the lives of five more people. It is said that that failure of the police cost five more lives. However, the III Town and Eluru Rural Police succeeded in cracking the Kati Nagaraju death case and brought Siva’s offences to light. “We could prevent the 11th murder,’’ said a police officer.
Vallabhaneni Uma Maheswara Rao, of Nuzividu, believed that the accused would have a ‘rice-pulling coin.’ (A rice pulling coin, made of copper and iridium, is believed to have magical powers and is sought after by many just to possess it.)
Siva took Maheswara Rao’s Rs 4 lakh and silver ornaments, administered him cyanide. He died instantly.
In the case of Pulapa Tavitaiah of Marribandam village, Siva took `8 lakh from him at his house and told him that he should perform pujas. As soon as Siva left the house, Tavitaiah died. On the same lines, the accused trapped G. Bhaskara Rao of Vijayawada. He told him to attend a puja at his (Siva’s) house, after taking `1.70 lakh form him. A clerk, Suribabu, gave `5 lakh to him and later he took cyanide as prasadam from the accused. He died on the way. Siva relived him of his two gold rings.
The surprising thing is that Sri Sri Ramakrishnanda of Purushot-tapatnam ashram was trapped by the accused. Siva approached the swamiji and gave him cyanide as ayurvedic medicine. The swamiji died instantly. Siva could not get any amount from the swamiji.
