Hyderabad: In a gory macabre incident in Nalgonda district, a 27-year-old auto driver was killed and beheaded by his wife’s lover and his associates on Sunday. Police said the suspects beat Palakuri Ramesh, 27, to death, severed the head with a knife and dumped it on the steps of a dargah in Nalgonda town. The victim’s headless body was found on Monday in an open land more than five km away, about half a km from the district collectorate.

Nalgonda DSP S. Sudhakar said the prime suspect Ramakrishna had been harassing Ramesh’s wife to continue relations with him and had threatened to kill her husband if she refused. “The illicit affair is the reason behind the murder. All the suspects in the case have been identified,” the DSP said.





This is the second murder in less than a week in the district headquarters, after Congress leader Boddupalli Srinivas was killed last Wednesday.

Ramesh, hailing from Kanagal, got married to Anitha of Bagaraugadda village in Chandur mandal six years ago. The couple lived with their two children Bhanuprasad, 4, and Ashwitha, 3, in Kanagal. His parents sell toddy for a living.

The accused, Ramakrishna, used to visit their home to buy toddy and got to know Ramesh’s parents well. Gradually, he became a family friend which gave him access to all family members. He then developed a relationship with Anitha.

This continued for a few months. Police said Ramesh even caught the two in the act a couple of times following which Anitha left to her maternal home. A few weeks ago, elders from both families got the couple to reach a compromise and live together.

Thereafter Anitha maintained distance with Ramakrishna, but he kept forcing her to continue the relationship. She refused his proposal but did not tell the family out of fear of blame all over again. At this, Ramakrishna threatened to kill Ramesh.

Meanwhile on Sunday, Ramesh went to Nagarjunasagar to get medicine for his children. Ramakrishna, who came to know this, gave Ramesh’s contact number to his friends who called him and asked him to get some medicines for them as well.

After he bought the medicine, the accused asked him to deliver them at Nalgonda. When Ramesh reached Nalgonda, he was taken to the residence of one of them, Mohsin, where they together consumed alcohol. When Ramesh got drunk heavily, Ramakrishna and his associates beat him severely till he died, and beheaded his body with a knife. Police said they later dumped the headless body in bushes in a locality near the collectorate, while Mohsin hid the severed head in his house and left it on the steps of a dargah located seven km away in the town the next day.