In a shocking and horrifying incident, five individuals, including two teenagers and a minor, were apprehended in Nizamabad for the ruthless murder of six members of a family within a span of 20 days. The police revealed that the motive behind the brutal killings was to seize the victims' property. The mastermind, identified as Medidha Prashanth (25), hailing from Makloor village in Nizamabad, orchestrated the sinister plan.
The gruesome series of events began when the burnt body of an unidentified woman, aged between 20-25 years, was discovered near Padmajiwada village in Sadasivanagar on December 14. Subsequent investigations by the Kamareddy district police uncovered a sinister connection between this murder and the subsequent killings.
The police pieced together that Prashanth, a friend of the deceased Pune Prasad (36), devised a plan to murder Prasad and his entire family to wrongfully acquire their property. Prasad, who had faced accusations in a 2018 suicide abetment case, borrowed ₹1.5 lakh from Prashanth upon his return from working in Gulf countries in 2022. Prasad's attempt to sell or transfer his property to Prashanth, who promised a loan against it, eventually led to the transfer of ownership in May 2022.
However, Prashanth failed to fulfil his commitment to provide the loan, prompting Prasad to confront him. In a bid to claim the property without raising suspicion, Prashanth hatched a diabolical plan to eliminate Prasad and his family.
The police narrated a chilling sequence of events. Prashanth, along with his associates, initially lured Prasad into a forest on November 29, intoxicated him, and then killed him. To divert suspicion, Prashanth informed Prasad's family that he was hiding in Nizamabad due to legal issues.
On December 1, Prashanth and his associates convinced Prasad's wife Sanvika and his sister Sravani to travel to Nizamabad, where they allegedly murdered Sanvika by strangulation and disposed of her body off the Basara Bridge. Sravani met a similarly tragic fate in Chegunta, where she was purportedly strangled and set on fire.
The gruesome saga continued on December 4 when Prashanth and his younger brother deceived the remaining family members into thinking that Prasad and Sanvika wished to see their children. The children were allegedly killed, and their bodies were discarded near a bridge in Mendora village in Nizamabad.
The last surviving family members, Prasad's mother Susheela and his sister Swapna were taken to a lodge near Nizamabad Railway Station. Swapna was allegedly strangled to death on December 13, but Susheela managed to escape.
The police, using technical evidence and CCTV footage, successfully apprehended Prashanth, Vamsi, Vishnu, and the minor boy. Documents revealing the transfer of the land to Prashanth's name were recovered during the investigation.
As of now, the bodies of Swapna, Sravani, and the two children have been recovered, while the whereabouts of Prasad and Sanvika remain unknown. The police have registered four cases, with two at the Mendora Police Station in Nizamabad, and one each at the Sadasivanagar Police Station in Kamareddy and Chegunta Police Station in Medak, under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (disappearance of evidence).
Various items, including a car, a bike, land documents, cash, mobile phones, petrol bottles, spades, and a rod, were seized from the accused. However, the recovery of Prasad and Sanvika's bodies requires further legal processes. The police are set to register missing persons cases and petition the local tahsildar for the excavation process.
This heinous crime has left a community in shock, underscoring the importance of thorough investigations and community vigilance to prevent such tragic events.