Pranay was killed in the fifth attempt

Accused in the murder of the youth produced before the media

Updated - September 19, 2018 09:35 am IST - NALGONDA

  Partners in crime:  Nalgonda Superintendent of Police A.V. Ranganath producing the accused in the Pranay murder case before the media on Tuesday.

Partners in crime: Nalgonda Superintendent of Police A.V. Ranganath producing the accused in the Pranay murder case before the media on Tuesday.

The Nalgonda police on Tuesday presented before the media seven persons who were arrested for the brutal murder of Perumalla Pranay Kumar in broad daylight at Miryalaguda on September 14.

Those arrested in connection with the murder are Amrutha Varshini’s father Tirunagari Maruthi Rao, the alleged contract killer Subash Kumar alias Sharma from Bihar, Azgar Ali and Md Abdul Bari, both residents of Nalgonda town and suspected to have been involved in the case, Miryalaguda Town Congress president Abdul Kareem, Maruthi Rao’s brother Sravan Kumar and Samudrala Shiva, Maruthi Rao’s driver.

Subash Kumar has been identified as the person who attacked Pranay Kumar with a machete outside Jyothi Hospital in Miryalaguda.

Enraged that his daughter Amrutha married a man from a Scheduled Caste, Maruthi Rao belonging to a business community hatched the conspiracy, Nalgonda Superintendent of Police A.V. Ranganath said on Tuesday. The killing of Pranay, 23, was after four failed attempts that included a recce, attacker’s confusion and improper preparation.

And for the ₹ 1 crore contract to commit the murder , the girl’s father shook hands with the two acquitted in the killing of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya in 2003 — prime accused Mohammed Azghar Ali and his associate Mohammed Abdul Bari, residents of Nalgonda.

Pranay was hacked to death last Friday around 1.30 p.m. when he was exiting a private hospital in Miryalaguda, along with his five-month-pregnant wife Amrutha and mother Premalatha.

According to Mr. Ranganath, the love affair of Pranay and Amrutha since school days was opposed by Maruthi Rao as it also disturbed his daughter’s education and the boy was also from lower economic strata. They were warned and advised several times by the family, allegedly, including Soma Bharat Kumar and Vemula Veeresham – leaders from Telangana Rashtra Samithi. An inquiry is on to reveal relevant details.

The girl was forced to drop her education after Intermediate for one year.

Pranay and Amrutha also discontinued engineering. They got married on January 30 this year in Hyderabad and returned to Miryalaguda.

The plan to kill Pranay was hatched in June when the father got in touch with Bari through the town’s Congressman and a transporter Abdul Kareem. On July 10, an advance of ₹15 lakh was shared among Ali, Bari and Kareem.

Learning about Amrutha’s Friday visit to a local hospital for pre-natal check-ups, Maruthi Rao had also pressured the doctor to abort the pregnancy. But on September 14, after failing several attempts and talks failed, the plan was executed, Mr. Ranganath explained.

Sharma had escaped via Nalgonda-Hyderabad-Bangalore and reached Patna. And Ali and Bari met on the NH-65. The same day after news broke on the television, Maruthi Rao, who was in Nalgonda, was taken into custody.

The accused have been booked for murder, abetment, criminal conspiracy, and under Section 3 (2) of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

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