Police arrest father-in-law in Rs 1 crore contract to kill Telangana man

(Reporting by Prasad Bhosekar)

Hyderabad: Days after a Dalit man was hacked to death in Telangana, the police on Tuesday managed to nab all the culprits, including the girl's father. The incident took place in Miryalaguda town of Nalgonda district. 

The man, who hacked the victim to death, was identified as Subash Sharma. He was nabbed from Bihar's Samasthipur. 

On September 14, Perumalla Pranay Kumar, a Dalit, was hacked to death in front of his wife Amrutha Varshini and his mother Premalatha. Amrutha, who belongs to Vyshya (Baniya) community, is expecting with Kumar first child.

The incident took place as they were coming out of a clinic where they had gone for Amrutha's pre-natal check-up.

However, in a shocking revelation to the case, it emerged that Amrutha's father T Maruthi Rao, who was unhappy since the couple tied the knot, gave contract of Rs one crore to kill his son-in-law.

Along with Maruthi Rao, the police arrested six more people in connection with the murder case. Two of the co-conspirators in this case - Asghar Ali and Mohd Bari were acquited in former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya's murder case.

Nalgonda Superintendent of police A V Ranganath disclosed that right from the day of Amruta's marriage, Maruthi Rao held a grudge and has been planning to kill Pranay as he was from Scheduled Caste. 

Maruthi Rao's resolve got stronger when he learnt that Amrutha was pregnant with Pranay's child.

"Maruthi Rao through his friend Abdul Karim contacted Asghar Ali and Mohd Bari to kill Pranay. The supari was fixed for Rs one crore. An advance of Rs 15 lakh was paid. Both Asghar Ali and Mohd Bari then hatched a plan and contacted supari killer Subash Sharma of Bihar whom they had met in Rajahmundry Central Jail during trial of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya's murder,'' SP Ranganath said.

Two attempts - in July and in August - were made in the last two months to kill Pranay. However, both went unsuccessful.

"But on September 14, after proper planning, Pranay was killed in front of Jyothi Nursing home in Miryalaguda in broad daylight around 1.30 pm. While Subash Sharma carried out the killing hacking Pranay with a machete, Asghar and Bari supervised the entire action. Maruthi Rao tried to create an alibi by making himself seen in neighbouring Nalgonda town. However, we joined all the dots caught all of them,'' Ranganath added.

Two other accused include Maruthi Rao's brother, T Sravan and his driver, Shiva Goud. All the seven accused are booked for murder along with SC, ST Atrocities Acts.

Following the arrest of her father, Amrutha said, "It's shocking how my father planned and murdered my husband while making me believe all this while that he was trying to reconcile to our marriage.''