Adilabad man arrested for murder of woman to conceal relationship

Hyderabad: In a breakthrough in the recent murder case of a woman, the Cyberabad police arrested a suspect in Secunderabad on Saturday. The accused is said to have voluntarily confessed to the crime during interrogation.

Case details

The accused, A Praveen Kumar (36) from Utnoor in Adilabad district, ran a cell phone shop in 2013 where he had met the deceased, B Sharadha. Over time, they developed a relationship, frequently communicating over WhatsApp and meeting in person.

However, in 2020, the woman moved to Hyderabad and blackmailed the accused for a year for money, threatening to reveal their relationship to his family and file legal charges to ruin his reputation. Fearing these threats, the accused paid her Rs 2 lakhs a year ago.

Determined to stop her blackmail, the accused devised a plan to recover their personal and private videos from her phone and kill her. On September 23, he travelled from Utnoor to her residence in Mallampet. During their meeting, he asked her to return his videos, and she demanded more money. In a fit of rage, the accused strangled her, resulting in her immediate death.

After the incident, the accused fled the scene, returning to his native place to hide.

To mislead investigators, he staged a robbery by taking her jewellery, including a chain and earrings. On Saturday night, Dundigal police apprehended him at Secunderabad during a medical visit.

The arrest was made possible through diligent analysis of 50-60 CCTV footage within a 10-kilometer radius by the CAT Analysis team. The Aadhaar card of the deceased from seized from the accused.

The arrest and seizure were carried out under the supervision of B Srinivas Reddy, asst. commissioner of police, Medchal Division, with the support of P Sateesh, inspector of police; B Satish, DI of police; SIPs T Shankar, M Ram Mohan Reddy; HCs Ch Mahesh, E Venkataiah; PCs J Rajinikanth, Hameed; along with the CAT Analysis Wing and CCS Team.