Srikakulam police arrests 6 people for the murder of an ex-army man

Six people were arrested on Monday, by the Srikakulam police, in relation to the murder of an ex-army man. The deceased was found strangled in a park in Srikakulam on 26 July 2021 and was later identified as Ch Malleshwara Rao. He was an ex-army man from Srikakulam who had retired from the service in 2012.

Post-retirement, Malleshwara Rao aided his brother-in-law, Seepana Appalanaidu, one of the suspects arrested, in his real estate business. He also used to run a Mee-Seva Centre at Venkatapuram village under Etcherla Mandal. As per the press release, from the police, the accused had procured some land within the limits of

Appalanaidu later constructed a two-storey house in Seepannaidupeta Junction of Srikakulam in the name of the deceased. The ground floor, and the first floor, were given to other people for rent and the second floor was given to the deceased as his residence. 

During this time, a dispute arose between Malleshwara Rao and Appalanaidu over the rent amount of the other people residing in the building. Following this, the victim claimed all the property in his name as his own. This triggered Appalanaidu to hatch a plan to damage one of Rao’s body parts permanently and hired professional killers. The plan failed and Appalanaidu decided to murder the ex-army man in Srikakulam, upon an agreed sum of 6 Lakhs.

The group of accused people, which also included a woman, then hatched a plan to murder Malleshwara Rao. The woman engaged with Malleshwara Rao closely, within a short span of time and also met up with him at the Mee Seva Centre a few times. 

On 25 July, the woman asked Rao to come near Vijayaditya Park, where the rest of the accused were waiting for them. Upon reaching there, Rao was attacked and strangled using a scarf. 

Appalanaidu was caught by the police today while paying the balance sum of 2 lakh to the accused who were gathered at Navabharath Junction of Etcherla Mandal.