Hired killers from Mumbai were suspected to be involved in the daylight murder in which three persons were shot dead on the National Highway-5 here on Wednesday.
The victims -- Gandham Nageswara Rao (55) and Gandham Pagidi Maraiah (36) Pagidi Maraiah (35) -- belonging to Pinakadimi village in Pedavegi mandal of West Godavari district were shot dead by unidentified persons on NH-5 at around 10.30 a.m. The driver of their car managed to escape.
Vijayawada City Police Commissioner A. B. Venkateswara Rao, who visited the spot, said family rivalry was suspected to be reason behind the murder.
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According to the police, the assailants waylaid the car in which the trio was travelling and fired at them from point-blank range. The victims were on their way from Gannavaram to Eluru to attend a court hearing.
The three were accused in the murder of one Durga Rao, who was killed in Eluru on March 9 this year. They subsequently went to Mumbai after securing bail and were proceeding to the court at Eluru after landing at Gannavaram airport in the morning.
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According to DCP (Law & Order) Tafseer Iqbal, eight bullets were recovered near the car, which belonged to a travel operator from Eluru. “A high alert has been sounded at all check-posts in Krishna and West Godavari districts to trace the killers,” the DCP said.
Traffic on the busy NH-5 came to a grinding halt for about one-and-a-half hour as the scene of offence was cordoned off by the police.