The "accidental" death of a youth in East Godavari district a year ago has turned out to be a case of murder as police today claimed to have arrested five persons, including two relatives of the victim, who allegedly committed the crime for insurance money.
Kadiri Venkatesh (22), who was suffering from a deadly infectious disease, was found dead near railway tracks in East Godavari district on August 11, 2015.
Initially, it was treated as a case of "accidental" death but it has now emerged he died after being pushed from a running train, police said.
A police team led by ACP (Taskforce) I Chittibabu arrested five persons, including Venkatesh's cousin Kuppili Madhuri and her husband K Nagendra. The other accused were identified as Kurmana Kameswara Rao, N Ramachandra Prasad and Bokka Ram Prasad.
Addressing a press conference here, DCP (Law and Order) Navin Gulati said Venkatesh was a resident of Ramnagar area here and suffered from a fatal infectious disease.
He stayed in Madhuri's house, whose husband Nagendra had a mobile phone shop, where Venkatesh worked as his assistant, Gulati said.
The couple thought Venkatesh would not live for long and hence with the help of bogus documents got him insured with four insurance firms since November 2014 for a total sum of Rs 1.19 crore, the police officer said. In all the single premium term policies, Madhuri was registered as the nominee.
Later, the couple decided to eliminate him to get the insurance money. They hatched a plan and hired three people to kill Venkatesh, he said.
The DCP said on the night of August 10, 2015, the couple, their three accomplices and the victim boarded Puri-Tirupati Express on the pretext of visiting Kanakadurga Temple in Vijayawada. Madhuri shoved her identity card and phone number in the pocket of Venkatesh.
When the train reached Bikkavalu, Kameswara Rao pushed Venkatesh from the running train in the wee hours on August 11. GRP personnel registered a case of accidental death and informed Madhuri who along with her husband cremated Venkatesh in Visakhapatnam.
Later, the couple obtained a sum of Rs 69 lakh from insurance firms with the help of fabricated documents and assistance from insurance agents, Gulati said.
As part of the deal, the couple gave Rs 11 lakh to Ramachandra, Rs 6 lakh to Kameswara Rao and Rs 30,000 to Boka Ram Prasad. But differences arose over distribution of the insurance money and one of the hired killers recently tipped off the police about the episode, leading to the arrests, he said.
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