Prabhakar, a police constable accused of masterminding the murder of former naxalite V. Pushpalata, and a son of another head constable, Sravan Kumar, who finally killed her, were arrested by the Uppal police of Cyberabad on Thursday.
Motive behind the murder was a dispute over sharing profits in a land deal in which the constable and the surrendered naxalite helped the land owner fight a civil case against film director Dharma Teja, according to Malkajgiri ACP Ch. Radhakishan Rao. Prabhakar, constable of Mominpet police station in neighbouring Ranga Reddy district, was a distant relative of the victim.
Pushpalata and Prabhakar were from Kandlapally village near Vikarabad; they were neighbours. Mahesh, a resident of Nanakramguda in Raidurg, approached Pushpalata seeking her help in solving a dispute his father had with the film director over 1.02 acre of land in prime locality. Its present market value is estimated to be around Rs.4 crore.
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While Mahesh's family claimed that it purchased the land under survey no. 2A and 3 from the owners, the film director too claimed rights over the land, the ACP said. The surrendered naxalite and the constable intervened in the case. In order to meet the court expenses of Mahesh's case, Prabhakar even sold his own property for Rs.40 lakh.
The duo had an oral agreement with Mahesh that they would share profits from the sale of disputed land. While 60 per cent was to go to Mahesh's family, the remaining sum was to be shared by Prabhakar and Pushpalata as per the agreement. They engaged Sravan, son of a head constable working in Mominpet police station, and others to protect the land.
Eventually, the court gave verdict in favour of Mahesh's family in the dispute. “Soon, Pushpalata allegedly got some single room structures erected on the land through her henchmen and tried to keep Prabhakar off the land,” Mr. Rao explained. The constable nursed a grudge against Pushpalata who reportedly threatened to eliminate him if he insisted on a larger share in the deal.
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Meanwhile, Sravan joined hands with the constable as Pushpalata allegedly evaded payment of Rs.8 lakh she had promised to arrange for his sister's marriage. They hired Md. Ahmed, Ghouse, Athik, Kareem and Nayeemuddin to eliminate her. The gang planned to kill her at a ‘dhaba' in Vikarabad but withdrew twice after finding people accompanying her.
Sravan and Ahmed went to her house in Uppal on January 13, stabbed her to death and fled the place.