Investigation into the murders of two unidentified men in the wee hours of January 25, near Ramnagar locality on the town outskirts, reached a logical point on Friday with the Nalgonda police nabbing two suspects.
The two dead persons were identified as Bondi Ramji and Bondi Nageswar of Pothulur village, Prathipadu in East Godavari district. They had come to Nalgonda in search of work, and later in the wee hours were found murdered.
DSP Venkateswara Reddy produced two accused — Shaik Azeem and Shaik Amir of Girakalabavi in the old town — before media persons and disclosed the details.
“The duo, one of whom was the auto-rickshaw driver, assumed the visitors’ bags contained a lot of money. So as part of a plan invited the two for a drink and took them to the outskirts, where after a couple of drinks the accused bludgeoned the victims with boulders,” he said.
The crime scene on January 25 did not offer much to the investigating team of the police. One of the investigating officials said a small wallet was found, but it also did not provide a strong lead.
However, footage from CCTVs on the route, one at Cherlapally on the Addanki-Narketpally State highway where the visitors got down and took the auto-rickshaw, and another CCTV on the Collectorate road near the crime scene, showed similarity.
“At around 3.55 a.m., an auto-rickshaw with blinking lights and a fancy sticker, was seen on the CCTVs. The same vehicle was seen at Cherlapally and on the Collectorate road towards Ramnagar,” an official said.
Following this lead the police questioned a few auto-rickshaw drivers and zeroed in on the two suspects who were picked up. During questioning their motive and role in the crime became clear. The duo were remanded to judicial custody.
