Police confirm victim’s identity in Eluru body parcel case, key suspect remains absconded

Four days after a woman received a body in a parcel at Yendagandi village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, the Undi police on December 23, Monday, confirmed the identity of the deceased.

The police, after registering a case, confirmed that the victim was murdered and launched a probe to identify the victim and the motive behind the crime.

The Undi police circulated the photographs of the man whose body was sent through a parcel on social media groups and among all police stations. The deceased was identified as Barre Parlaiah hailing from Kalla mandal in West Godavari district.

Sagi Tulasi, who was constructing a house at Yendagandi village, was expecting a parcel of electrical appliances but received the body stuffed in a wooden box instead on December 19.

The police questioned Ms. Tulasi, her sister Revathi, their father, Mudunuri Rangaraju and other family members. Ms. Revathi’s husband Siddharth Varma alias Sridhar Varma absconded soon after the incident.

“The deceased, Parlaiah, is survived by his wife and two children. He was addicted to liquor and had abandoned his family a few years ago. Parlaiah was eking out his livelihood by doing some manual work at Kalla and in the neighbouring villages,” said West Godavari district Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi.

“Parlaiah was last seen with Siddharth Varma riding a bike in the village on December 17. His body was sent to Ms. Tulasi after two days (December 19.) Investigating officers suspect that Parlaiah was murdered on December 17 night,” the SP said on Monday.

The police are trying to find out more details about the case as to how Parlaiah was murdered and who were involved in the crime, Mr. Adnan Nayeem said.

DNA sampling

Eluru Range IG G.V.G. Ashok Kumar told The Hindu on Monday that the police were trying to nab the suspect, Siddharth Varma, who had been absconding for the last four days.

“We will send the blood samples of Parlaiah’s family members to Forensic Science Laboratory. After the DNA samples were matched, the police will hand over the body to the family members,” the IG said.