Hyderabad priest Googled 'how to kill human being' before murdering lover

Hyderabad: From Shraddha Walkar, who was killed by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawala in South Delhi in May 2022, to the most recent killing of a 30-year-old woman by a 36-year-old priest and contractor in Hyderabad, there have been a series of gruesome murders which eerily follow a similar pattern.

The most recent murder by a married priest Ayyagari Venkata Surya Sai Krishna in Hyderabad who killed his love after she demanded to marry her is now a sensation.

What happened?

K Apsara (30) had separated from her husband, who, according to the police, had died by suicide. A few years ago, she returned from Chennai to her parents’ place in Hyderabad. She made friends with Sai Krishna, a priest at a temple in Saroornagar, during her regular visits to a temple, and eventually, entered into a relationship with him. They were a couple for over a year.

The duo also visited temples in Dwaraka, and Somnath temples in November last year along with their friends. Sai Krishna told the police that at first, it was Apsara who proposed to him on WhatsApp.

According to the statement given by Sai Krishna, since March, Apsara had been forcing Krishna to leave his family and marry her. For over a year, she threatened to expose their relationship if he turned her away. “This turned out to be the motive behind the gruesome killing. The accused was vexed with her behaviour, and decided to kill her,” said police in the remand report by RGIA police station under Cyberabad Commissionerate.

When did it happen?

Apsara has been regularly asking Krishna to accompany her to a temple in Coimbatore. Taking that as an advantage, the accused hatched a plan to eliminate her. He discreetly placed a stone (used for crushing jaggery) in his car.

On June 3, at around 8 pm, Apsara and Krishna started in the car. He made her believe that they are visiting Coimbatore and had lied about booking tickets. He took her in the car to catch a bus at 11 pm. Later, he said he did not book any tickets and took her to a goshala in Sultanpally. They had dinner at a fast-food centre.

When they reached Narkuda village, on the outskirts of Shamshabad Rural Police Station, Krishna struck a sleeping Apsara on the head with the stone multiple times, causing her death. He then wrapped her body in a cover, drove back to Saroornagar and dumped it in a manhole at a deserted location near the Mandal Revenue Officer’s (MRO) office behind the temple he worked in.

According to the police, to cover all evidence of his misdeeds, Krishna dumped two truckloads of soil on the manhole and also disposed of the victim’s bags by setting them on fire. After that, he washed his car and parked it in his apartment. The following day, he visited the spot, and after noticing the bad smell emanating, he got some labourers to cover and seal the manhole with concrete.

Googled ‘how to kill a human being’

As per the remand report by the police, before killing Apsara, Krishna did research on the Internet. Investigation showed that he had Googled ‘how to kill a human being’ to find ways to get rid of Apsara.

According to the police, he took considerable help from the information on the Internet to kill his victim.

Missing complaint filed

To dispel any blame that might come on him, on June 5, Krishna went to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) Police Station to file a missing report on Apsara, who he claimed was his niece. He stated that on June 3, he dropped her off at the Shamshabad bus stand since she was travelling to Badrachalam with her friends. He said later that day, she did not answer calls, and her phone was switched off.

The police who began the investigation suspected Krishna to be the prime suspect. When the police checked the CCTV footage, they found contradictions between the version of the victim’s mother and Krishna. When Krishna was questioned, he admitted to killing Apsara because she persistently demanded marriage, which he couldn’t comply with due to his existing marriage.

Following the accused’s confession, the police recovered the victim’s body from Saroornagar. Krishna was remanded to judicial custody and was subsequently shifted to Cherlapally Jail for 14 days.

A contractor turned priest

Krishna who completed MBA in marketing has been building temples for the past 12 years in the Saroornagar area, and had gained a name as a big-time contractor. He was also running a veda patashala, a goshala, and nitya annadana satram in Hyderabad.

While his primary profession was to take contracts for the construction of temples, he also used to perform rituals in the temple.

“He regularly performs puja in the temple. At a time when the temple authorities faced a fund crunch, he would pay for construction from his own pocket,” said a distant relative of Krishna (on condition of anonymity).

Used to call him Anna

According to Krishna’s father, Narasimha Murthy, Krishna had told him that Apsara had been harassing him for three months, blackmailing him to marry her. “I have seen her in the temple regularly. She used to call my son Anna (brother). If he had told us about the harassment by Apsara before doing the crime, we would have taken them for police counselling,” said Krishna’s father to the media.

Wife defends husband

Speaking to the media, Krishna’s wife defended the murder done by her husband and said it might have happened accidentally. She said her husband who was unable to bear the harassment, might have accidentally killed her out of anger. Meanwhile, Apsara’s parents demanded severe punishment for the accused, who brutally killed their daughter.