Mancherial Fire Incident Case Points To Murder For Gain

18 Dec, 2022 16:04 IST|Sakshi Post

Mancherial Police suspect that an extra-marital affair and property seemed to be the primary reasons behind this gruesome death of six people who were burnt alive in MLA Colony in Venkatapur village under Ramakrishnapur police station limits in Telangana's Mancherial district on Saturday.

Out of the six people, two of them were children who were burnt to death in a major fire. The deceased were identified as Masu Shivaiah (50), his wife Rajyalaxmi (45), daughter Mounika (22), and granddaughters Prashanthi (3), Himabindu (13months ), and Shanigarapu Shanthaiah (55).

Police have taken into custody Shanthaiah’s wife Srujana and five others, including her paramour Lakshman and are reportedly questioning them. It is reported that the wife had her husband Shanthaiah killed along with the family members for the sake of property and a Singareni Inheritance Job, as Shanthaiah worked in the mines. The victims were reportedly given food laced with sedatives and the miscreants set fire to the house with petrol and escaped.

According to the details given by the locals of Naspur and Venkatapur, Masu Shivaiah of Venkatapur who was the VRA of that village, and his wife Rajyalakshmi (Padma) had two daughters and one son. All of them were married and settled and their son Sandeep lives in Naspur.

Shanigarapu Shanthaiah, a Singareni worker from Oodkur in Laxettipet Mandal, was working in the RK5 coal mine which was near Venkatapur. He developed friendship with Shivaiah and Rajyalakshmi couple as they were from the same village. Out of friendship, he started staying in their house, which was close to the mines, and soon developed an illicit relationship with Rajya Lakshmi.

Shanthaiah’s wife Srujana filed a complaint in the local Panchayat that Shanthaiah was having an extra-marital affair with Rajya Lakshmi and was ignoring her family. The couple had a daughter and two sons. Both families were also counseled several times at Srirampur Police Station and sent off.

Shanthaiah was a Singareni employee and also had lands in Naspur. Recently he received Rs.12 lakhs as his share in some land dealing. He put Rs. 5 lakhs as a fixed deposit in his daughter’s name and kept the rest to himself. Srujana argued that he was giving money to Rajyalakshmi instead of giving money to her sons. In addition to this, it was reported that Shanthaiah had stayed back in Venkatapur for four months and was not attending duty at the coal mine regularly.

It is alleged that the murder could have been committed for the property, money, and also the Singareni Inheritance Job which would come to Srujana’s son upon Shanthaiah’s death.

Police have found two petrol cans nearby the burnt hut which points to the fact that it was not an accidental fire. There is also CCTV footage where a few people were seen buying petrol and filling them in cans at the Srirampur petrol pump, which was used to burn down the old house.

Police are also examining the facts that the murder could have been hatched by the family of the deceased and executed by someone else by paying Supari. The fact that Shanthaih’s family members did not come to claim his body also raised further suspicion over their role in this case.

The cremation of the five family members was completed on Sunday, but Shanthaiah’s body was shifted to the mortuary at Mancherial Government Hospital after his family members did not come forward to claim his body to cremate him.

People in the sleepy village of Venkatapur village in Mandamarri Mandal are in a state of shock after the incident of fire which left six members charred to death. The fact that house was located on the outskirts of the village and the neighbors were unable to respond in time to save them as the whole fire engulfed and gutted the house within an hour. Meanwhile, police have formed teams to investigate the matter in detail.