Hyderabad: The charred body of a 27-year-old government veterinary doctor, who had gone missing on Wednesday, was found under a bridge on National Highway 44 at Chattanpally, close to Shadnagar on Thursday. The police suspect that she could have been killed and the body was shifted to another place and set ablaze by the suspects.
P. Priyanka Reddy, 27, a resident of Shamshabad, was working as a veterinary doctor at Kollur in Mahbubnagar district. On Wednesday, Priyanka had an appointment at Olive Skin Care Hospital in Gachibowli and left the house at 5.50 pm on her bike. She parked the bike near Thonudpally toll-plaza and took private transport to go to Gachibowli.
At around 9.22 pm, she called her younger sister P. Bhavya and informed her that her bike had a flat tyre and some stranger had offered her help to get it repaired. But he had returned the bike without getting it repaired and his presence scared her.
When her family members called back at 9.44 pm, Priyanka’s phone was switched off.
Since she did not return home late in the night and her phone was found to be switched off, her family searched for her and then lodged a complaint with the Shamshabad police.
At around 7 am on Thursday, the police received information from one S. Sathyam, a milkman from Lingareddyguda that he had seen the body of a woman burning under the culvert on the outskirts of Chattanpally village in Shadnagar mandal. Mr Sathyam told the police that when he was on the way to deliver milk at the nearby villages, he noticed the fire under the culvert and assumed that somebody had started a bonfire to beat the cold. Two hours later, when he went by the same spot, he noticed the hand of a woman in the fire.
The Shadnagar police said that the body was covered in a rug and was set ablaze. A scarf was found a few feet away from the body. The police asked the family members to come to the spot for identifying the body. Upon seeing the scarf and a pendant of Lord Ganesh around her neck, they confirmed it was her. During the probe, the police found that Priyanka was killed at a secluded place close to the toll plaza and her body, along with her scooter was shifted to the outskirts of Chattanpally.
Police checked the footage from the CCTV cameras of the toll plaza. It contained pictures of Priyanka crossing the road near the toll plaza at around 9 pm but the kidnap was not captured.
The Clues teams recovered innerwear, footwear and an identification card of Priyanka from the bushes near the toll plaza on Thursday evening.
Cyberabad police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar said, “Prima facie, it is understood that the suspects knew the area where they burnt the body. The bike of the victim is missing. Clues have been collected and 10 special teams to nab the offenders have been formed.”
Meanwhile, the missing bike of Priyanka was recovered by the police from bushes on the road side of National Highway 44 near Kothur village. The registration number plate of the bike was removed and was dumped on the road side by the offenders, the police suspect.
In last call, Priyanka told sister she was scared
Minutes before she went missing, veterinarian P. Priyanka Reddy called her sister P. Bhavya and said she was fightened by the presence of some unidentified persons close to her. Within no time, her mobile phone got switched off.
Her charred body was found the next day.
The incident has raised questions over the safety and security of women travelling during the late hours. Recollecting the last moments of her elder sister, Ms Bhavya said, “My sister called me at 9.22 pm. When I asked what happened, she said that some strangers had told her that her bike had a flat tyre and advised her not to proceed as it would be unsafe.”
“One of strangers wearing a red-coloured shirt took the bike saying he would get it repaired. After some time, he returned saying that the tyre repair shops were closed. When she was waiting alone, my sister called me. She said the strangers who had offered to help her were standing close to her near a lorry and she is frightened,” Ms Bhavya said, fighting tears as she recalled her last conversation with her sister.
The Cyberabad police who checked the call data records of the phone number of Priyanka Reddy said it was turned off at about 9.45 pm.
A police official associated with the investigation said, “CCTV cameras cover the routes towards the toll plaza.
A lorry was parked close to the spot due to which the offence was not captured by the cameras. It is understood that the lorry was parked in that manner to ensure that the toll plaza personnel and passersby could not see anything.”
The police suspects that two or more persons are involved in the offence, as it would not be easy for one person to load a bike on to a lorry. Another pointer was the spot where the body was disposed of.
The accused would have known of the culvert only if they had sound knowledge of the NH 44 route from Hyderabad towards Kurnool.
Asked if the woman was sexually assaulted, the investigators said that the post-mortem examination of the body did not reveal any signs of it. The body had been burnt to least 70 per cent.
A police official said things would have ended differently if Priyanka had called them when she felt scared, or her sister Bhavya called the police when the cell phone was switched off.
