Three accused in the double murder of a realtor and his friend, committed last year at Cherlapatelguda of Ibrahimpatnam on Hyderabad outskirts, were awarded life imprisonment.
Third Additional District Judge of Rangareddy in-charge Bhavani Chandra held guilty Matta Reddy, accused of masterminding the murders, and Khaja Moinuddin and Bikshapathy, hired by him for execution of the crime. All the three were handed down the sentence of life imprisonment.
The court, however, acquitted two others charged with aiding the accused in acquiring the firearms from Bihar. Three more persons from Bihar, who supplied firearms to them, were still at large. Victim N. Srinivas Reddy, a real estate businessman, purchased agricultural land at Cherlapatelguda for development as residential plots project.
“Matta Reddy purchased four plots in adjacent Lake Villa Orchard, and having found some discrepancies in that lay-out had planned to grab few more plots by entering into the project being developed by Srinivas Reddy,” P. Sreedhar Reddy, Rachakonda Special Branch Assistant Commissioner of Police, who investigated the case, said. With Srinivas Reddy preventing Matta Reddy from encroaching upon his project plots, the latter hatched a plot to eliminate him, the ACP recalled.
He secured two country-made pistols of 9 mm calibre through his hired assassins Khaja Moinuddin and Bikshapathy from Bihar. On March 1, 2022, Khaja and Bikshapathy waited at the venture site to kill Srinivas Reddy as he used to visit the place in the morning almost daily.
However, they could not execute the plan as Srinivas Reddy, accompanied by Raghavender Reddy, left the place. “Matta Reddy rang up Srinivas Reddy to come to the site for some clarifications over the disputed plots,” the ACP recalled. When the realtor and his friend were leaving the place after speaking to Matta Reddy, the duo intercepted their car at a turn on the road.
“Khaja fired at Raghavender and fled the spot while Srinivas Reddy jumped out of the car and started running for his life,” Mr. Sreedhar Reddy said. When the realtor slipped while running, Bikshapathy hit him with the pistol and bludgeoned his head with a boulder, the ACP said.
Initially, Ibrahimpatnam ACP investigated the case but the higher-ups transferred him on charges of laxity in investigation and assigned the probe to Mr. Sreedhar Reddy, who was LB Nagar ACP then. The trial court examined 64 witnesses in the case.
