Hyderabad: Eight persons allegedly involved in the brutal murder of Boddula Srinivas, close aide of Congress MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, and husband of Nalgonda municipality chairperson Boddula Lakshmi, were arrested by the Nalgonda police on Sunday.

Superintendent of police D.V. Srinivas Rao ruled out political motives behind the murder and said that an argument between at a roadside eatery developed into a quarrel and when Boddula Srinivas tried to pacify them, they attacked him in a fit of rage and killed him.





He added that during the argument, Srinivas himself tried to assault the suspects. The arrested persons were identified as Chintakunta Rambabu, M. Mallesh, A. Sharathraj, B. Durgaiah, K. Kalyan Sam-rat alias Chakri, D. Satish alias Satti, M. Gopi and M. Mohan. Three others, M. Mahesh, M. Sai and Prasad are absconding.

SP Srinivas Rao said at a press meet on Wednesday, that when Boddula Sriniv-as’ associate Mahesh’s brother, Rambabu, died of cancer, Srinivas went to his home to convey his condolences. After the final rites in the evening, Rambabu and Sharathraj went to a mirchi point where they got into an argument with the owner for not adding enough onions, and they damaged the material at the eatery. Mallesh tried to smooth things over by agreeing to pay compensation for the loss.

Inquiry reveals Srinivas was murdered with boulders
Around 11.30 pm, Gopi called his friend Rambabu and told him to come to the mirchi point. The two had an argument. Chakri, who was also present, managed to get Gopi to leave.

Gopi left but called up Boddula Srinivas and told him about the argument. This brought Boddula Srinivas to the spot along with Mohan and they questioned Rambabu about the fight. Rambabu got angry with Mohan but Srinivas tried to pacify them.

“This led to an argument and Srinivas slapped Mahesh who had just come, followed by Rambabu assaulting Srinivas. When Srinivas tried to attack Rambabu with a boulder, Sharath intervened to stop Srinivas and injured his neck. Later, Srinivas and Rambabu had a fight and fell into a canal along with Chakri. They were pulled out but continued to fight and again fell into another canal. In this process, Srinivas caught Rambabu’s throat and Rambabu raised an alarm. Mallesh hit Srinivas with a boulder. When Srinivas threatened Mallesh, he picked up another boulder and threw it at Srinivas’s head.

Later, Rambabu and Mallesh threw two boulders at Srinivas. They made sure he was dead and fled from the spot,” the SP said, adding that all of them were friends in the past.

Sources said that the suspects fled to Hyderabad. The arrested persons were sent to remand.