A man allegedly killed three persons within a span of five days —between May 5 and 10— at Narasaraopet town, the district headquarter of Palandu district, just for a meagre ₹660.
The deceased include a woman beggar and two men daily wagers. All of them were homeless and used to sleep on the streets. These three murders sent a shock wave to the people.
The culprit allegedly smashed the heads of the victims who were asleep with cement bricks and collected ₹40, ₹120 and ₹500 from them respectively. Police describe the incidents as murder for gain, saying that the modus operandi of all three murders are almost similar.
Palnadu district Superintendent of Police Y. Ravi Sankar Reddy told The Hindu over the phone that Ankamma Rao Tanneeru, a rag picker hailing from Narasaraopet, was suspected to have killed the woman beggar on May 5 midnight and two other persons on the intervening night of May 9 and 10.
Taking references from the CCTV footage, the police have started the investigation, the SP said, expressing confidence that the suspect would be arrested within 24 hours. However, the police are yet to confirm if the suspect is in their custody or absconding.
“Ankamma Rao is a habitual offender who would snatch cash and valuables from the pockets of people after killing them,” said Narasaraopet Deputy Superintendent of Police K.V. Mahesh.
During the investigation, the police confirmed the identity of one of the victims as Karivedula Sampath Reddy, 45, a native of Warangal district in Telangana. The identity of the other two victims are yet to established.
Ankamma Rao, who has served a jail term, is out on bail in another murder case reported in June 2022, the DSP said, adding that the suspect is wanted in many cases pending since 2014.
