Hyderabad: The Uppal police on Friday arrested seven persons for the murder of one M. Prasad in Ramanthapur. Prasad was reportedly harassing a woman who happened to be a paramour of one of the accused.
During the wee hours on June 2, M. Prasad, 22, was found murdered near a restaurant in Ramanthapur. Prasad had received multiple injuries on his body which were found to be inflicted using stones and wooden objects.
The seven accused persons were identified as — drivers B. Nagaraju, 28 and K. Ramesh, 23; C. Omkar, 23; CCTV camera technician C. Ramu, 27; K. Rajinikanth, 24; G. Raju, 25; P. Sunil Kumar, 29, all residents of Ramanthapur. Three other accused, identified as Mohammed Mushtaq, Sai, and Santhosh, are still at large.
The investigation revealed that Prasad was previously arrested for stealing a mobile phone and an amplifier during Ganesh Chaturthi last year. He assumed that Nagaraju and Mushtaq were behind his arrest and therefore developed a grudge against the duo. As a result, petty issues arose between Prasad and Nagaraju, even though they were on brotherly terms with each other just before the arrest.
In January, Nagaraju and Ramesh were arrested for trespassing on Prasad’s house and damaging his furniture. After the incident, Prasad threatened his rivals with dire consequences.
Furthermore, he began stalking and harassing a woman, who happened to be Nagaraju’s paramour.
“Unable to bear the harassment, Nagaraju hatched a plan to kill Prasad. Then, around 2 am on June 2, Prasad and his friends called him near Happy Bar under the pretext of settling the issue and, when he arrived, stoned him to death,” Malkajgiri ACP G. Sundeep said.
After the murder, the accused persons took shelter at Mushtaq’s place in Old Ramanthapur. Mushtaq later advised his friends to look for another shelter, however, the police apprehended them on Friday before they could move, the ACP said.
He added that the accused persons Nagaraju, Ramesh, and Mushtaq had even previously been arrested for attempting murder.
In order to enhance their punishment for repeating the offence, a case was booked against the accused under section 75 of the IPC, and history-sheets will be opened against them to keep a close eye on their movements.
