HYDERABAD: After two recent acquittals, serial killer Yerukali Srinu was awarded life imprisonment on Thursday for one of the murders he had committed about three years ago. According to police records, Srinu has been involved in 17 murder-for-gain cases since 2007.
While he was once convicted for life previously — in 2009 — Srinu was given remission in 2013 for good conduct in jail.
A local court in Jogulamba-Gadwal district sentenced him to life imprisonment again on Thursday, in connection with a murder-for-gain case from 2019. Following his usual modus operandi in this case too, Srinu identified a lone woman near a local toddy compound in Devarkadra and murdered her, before decamping with her ornaments. He was later arrested by the Mahabubnagar police and since then has been lodged in the Mahabubnagar jail. “We had a strong case against Srinu in this case and there were witnesses too. They gave their statements against the accused,” Devarkadra inspector Rajitha Reddy told TOI.
During his interrogation following arrest, cops found that he was involved in several other murder-for-gain cases in Mahabubnagar, Shadnagar and Shamshabad. In fact, between 2018 and 2019, Srinu committed four murders including the murder under Devarkadra police station limits which led to his conviction on Thursday. However, he has been acquitted in 11 cases — including two recent acquittals — while the remaining are at different stages of judicial review. “We are appealing against the verdict in the high court against the cases where he was acquitted,” a cop said. The court, however, acquitted his wife Salamma due to lack of evidence. She was accused of stocking the stolen property.
