Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad   

Trader's great escape from friend's net

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD July 24. He defied everything -- even death -- and lived to tell an adventurous tale. The story of a 30-year-old businessman whose miraculous escape from the clutches of his friend determined to finish him off reads like a crime thriller straight out of a film.

A building material supplier, Dasharatha of Kothaguda in Madhapur, had given Rs. 7 lakhs as loan to his friend, Ravi, a chit fund operator. Having allegedly decided not to repay the loan, Ravi sought the assistance of his brother-in-law, Suresh of Nalgonda, and hatched a plan to eliminate Dasharatha.

On Monday, the duo invited Dasharatha for a pleasure trip and the trio set out on a journey to Nagarjunasagar in a car. During the drive, Ravi offered Dasharatha drinks laced with sedatives. Soon after taking the drinks Dasharatha became unconscious. The duo then took him to an isolated spot in the deep forest of Srisailam, strangled him and hung him to a tree with ropes tied around his shoulders. Believing him to be dead, the duo thought of enacting a kidnap drama and make it appear as murder for gain by some unidentified persons.

To make sure that Dasharatha was dead, they hit him with boulders even as he was hanging from the tree and left. After reaching Hyderabad, Ravi told his friends that he and Dasharatha were kidnapped on their way to Vijayawada and when he became conscious he found himself `abandoned' in the city. Ravi also got himself admitted to a private hospital.

But the duo in their haste did not notice that Dasaratha was very much alive. When he regained consciousness next morning (Tuesday), Dasaratha found himself hanging onto a tree. He managed to unwind himself off the ropes but slipped and fell into a deep valley. He suffered bleeding injuries and slept in the forest for the night. On Wednesday morning, he made his way through the thick forest by following a dog. After an arduous journey of 10 km, he reached Mannanuru village.

With the help of two locals -- Prabhakar Reddy and Narayana Reddy -- he called up home. His brother, Krishna, rushed to the village, shifted Dasharatha to a hospital and lodged a complaint with the Madhapur police.

Though Ravi pleaded ignorance initially, he subsequently confessed to the police of his misdeed.

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