Police in Hyderabad have cracked a chilling case of murder and robbery, arresting a taxi driver for the killing of his 65-year-old landlady and the subsequent theft of her gold jewellery. The victim's body was recovered from the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh's Konaseema district.
The Gruesome Crime in Mallapur
According to Nacharam Circle Inspector Dhanunjay, the victim, S Sujatha (65), lived alone in Baba Nagar, Mallapur. She had been residing by herself since the tragic deaths of her husband and sons several years ago. The accused, identified as M Anjibabu (33), hailed from Kothapalli in Peravali Mandal of Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district. He came to Hyderabad for work as a driver and had rented a room in Sujatha's house just two months prior to the incident.
The police stated that on December 19, at around 11:30 am, Anjibabu attacked Sujatha while she was preparing food in her kitchen. He strangled her using a blanket. Following the murder, he stole approximately 11 tolas of gold jewellery that she was wearing at the time.
Body Disposal and Investigation Breakthrough
After committing the crime, Anjibabu allegedly informed two friends from his native Konaseema district—Yuvaraju (18) from Kandavalli and Durgarao (35) from Vemavaram. He then locked the house and travelled to his hometown. On December 20, the three men rented a car, returned to Mallapur, and moved Sujatha's body. They transported it to Konaseema on December 21 and dumped it into the Godavari River.
The case came to light on December 24 when Sujatha's sister, Suvarnalatha, who lives in Moinabad, visited the house. Unable to find her sister, she immediately filed a missing person complaint with the Nacharam police.
Arrests, Recovery, and Crucial Body Retrieval
Acting swiftly on the complaint, police picked up the prime suspect, Anjibabu, on Sunday. He subsequently confessed to the murder and robbery. Based on his detailed statement, the police arrested his two associates, Yuvaraju and Durgarao, on Monday. During the arrests, authorities successfully recovered 10 out of the 11 stolen tolas of gold. All three accused were remanded to judicial custody.
To locate the victim's body, the Nacharam police inspector and his team launched a search operation in the Godavari river. As per the accused's confession, the body was dumped between the villages of Pedapatnam Lanka and Appanapalli in Konaseema district. The investigating officer employed a smart strategy, creating a WhatsApp group with local fishermen and sharing the victim's details.
"On Tuesday morning, a fisherman alerted me to the body of the victim, which was two km downstream from Appanapalli village. We conducted a post-mortem examination at the scene and handed the body over to her family. Locating the victim's body was crucial to the case," the inspector stated.
The meticulous investigation, combining technological outreach with traditional policing, led to the swift resolution of this heinous crime, bringing a measure of closure to the victim's family.
