india

Updated: Apr 30, 2019 19:20 IST

The Telangana police are questioning a 28-year old air-conditioner mechanic who allegedly raped and murdered three girls at Hajipur village of Bommalaramaram block of Yadadri Bhongir district, about 50 km east of Hyderabad, over the last four years.

While the body a 14-year old girl studying ninth class, who went missing on Friday evening, was found in a deep, abandoned well on the outskirts of village late in the night, the skeletal remains of another 18-year old girl, who had gone missing from the same village in March, were found in the same well by the police on Monday.

Following this, the police are now suspecting that another 12-year old girl of Maisireddipalle village adjacent to Hajipur, who had been missing since 2015, could also have met the same fate. On Tuesday, the police with the help of local villagers undertook excavation of the well to trace the body of the third girl.

“We have taken one Marri Srinivas Reddy, a local air-conditioner mechanic into custody on Sunday for questioning. Reddy is allegedly a drug addict,” Bhongir deputy superintendent of police Narayana Reddy told the reporters Tuesday.

A police official familiar with the investigation said Reddy admitted to have committed rape and murder of the ninth standard girl on Friday. She had alighted from an autorickshaw near Bommalaramaram and was walking towards Hajipur, which was five kilometres away, when the accused offered her a lift on his bike.

“Since he belonged to the same village, she did not suspect him. But before they reached the village, he took a detour and raped and murdered her before dumping her body deep into the abandoned well,” the official said.

Following a complaint from the girl’s parents, the Bhongir police launched a manhunt and later in the night found her school bag near the well. Later, they fished out the girl’s body from the well and a post-mortem was conducted in the Bhongir hospital the following day revealed that she was raped and beaten mercilessly to death.

Based on the inquiries, the police took Srinivas Reddy into custody for questioning and he finally admitted to have committed the crime. The police who went to the well to recreate the scene of offence as part of investigation, found the skeletal remains of another girl in the same well.

With the help of fire services staff, the police excavated the skeleton which was sent for forensic examination. Based on a identity card in a backpack found in the area, the police identified the remains as that of a 18-year old commerce undergraduate student of Hajipur studying in Keesara, who had not returned home since March 15.

Her father had not lodged a police complaint after she went missing thinking that she might have eloped with her boyfriend. But after the police discovered her skeletal remains, he lodged a formal complaint. The police now suspect that this murder also could have been committed by Srinivas Reddy.

The discovery of the remains of second girl led to a tense situation in the village, as a large number of people rushed to the open well. Reddy’s family fled the village following the incident and irate villagers set fire to his house and demanded that the accused be shot dead by the police.

The police are now investigating whether Reddy was behind the missing of another 12-year old girl from neighbouring Maisireddypally village since 2015. The girl had come to Hajipur to meet her aunt on April 22, 2015, but never returned. The case had since been closed as she could not be traced despite hectic search.

The police initially suspected a few youth in the village, but concluded that Reddy could have committed all the three murders alone. He is expected to be formally arrested soon and produced in court.