The West Godavari district police, probing the ‘body parcel’ case, took Sagi Tulasi’s sister, Revathi, her husband T. Siddharth Varma and his girlfriend, Vijaya Lakshmi, into custody.
Revathi was reportedly the main conspirator in the crime. Her husband, Siddharth Varma alias Sridhar Varma, and Vijaya Lakshmi, allegedly executed the plan and killed Barre Parlaiah of Kalla village, and sent his body in a parcel, the investigation officer said.
A native of Yendagandi village, Tulasi, got the body, instead of electrical appliances she had ordered for her under-construction house, in a wooden box on December 19.
She lodged a complaint with Undi police the same day, and the police formed 15 teams to crack the murder-cum-body parcel case, which created sensation in the State.
Tulasi’s husband was missing since 2012, and she was staying with her parents in Yendagandi village. Her father, Mudunuri Rangaraju, had three acres of land and a house, estimated to cost ₹2 crore, and Revathi and Siddharth Varma, allegedly hatched a conspiracy to take over the entire property.
“The trio (Revathi, Siddharth Varma and Vijaya Lakshmi) planned to threaten Tulasi by sending a dead body to her house, take her signatures on the papers, throw the body in a nearby canal and hush up the case,” said West Godavari district Superintendent of Police (SP) Adnan Nayeem Asmi.
Siddharth Varma and Vijaya Lakshmi allegedly strangled Parlaiah to death with fishing net threads in a car on December 17. They reportedly kept the dead body for two days in Vijaya Lakshmi’s house in Kalla village, and sent it to Tulasi as a parcel.
“The couple escaped after committing the murder and sending the body in a wooden box to Yendagandi village. The main conspirator, Revathi, pretended innocence and came to Undi police station along with other family members,” said Eluru Range IGP G.V.G. Ashok Kumar, who visited Bhimavaram and monitored the investigation into the case.
“The accused searched for a person who did not have a family to kill and send the body to Tulasi. After rigorous search, they decided to kill Parlaiah, an alcoholic, who abandoned his family and was doing some labour work. On December 17, Siddharth Varma and Vijaya Lakshmi, took Parlaiah in their car and allegedly strangled him to death at an isolated place when he was in an inebriated condition,” Mr. Ashok Kumar said.
“The special teams took the accused into custody and are questioning them. We are probing the role of other persons in the crime,” Mr. Asmi told The Hindu on Thursday.
Published – December 26, 2024 08:47 pm IST