Hired assassin gangs on prowl in Krishna

The weapons seized from the accused in Pedavutapalli shootout case reported near Vijayawada


Several murders executed by gangs from outside the district keep cops on tenterhooks

Despite tall claims by police of keeping a strict vigil on the movements of criminals, hired assassin gangs from different places across the country are having a free run in Krishna district, causing tension among people.

In almost all the cases reported in the last few months, police started chasing the gangsters only after the latter executed their plan and fled. On September 24, a four-member hired gang from New Delhi killed astrologers – Gandham Nageswara Rao and his sons, G. Maraiah and G. Pagidi Maraiah – at Pevadutapalli village under Unguturu police station limits.

Police, who rounded up the accused with the help of Delhi Crime Branch police, seized a few country made guns and some lethal weapons from the gang. A few accused in the case are still at large.

On October 10, the Central Zone police apprehended four persons, including a native of Bihar, Murari Kumar Singh, on charges of plotting the murder of one Putti Srinu. An ex-offender, Murari Kumar, had procured a pistol and ten bullets from Bihar to execute his plan. On a tip-off, police busted the four-member gang and recovered the weapons.

In Nandigama shootout case, police nabbed Md. Aiaz, Karthik and J. M. Krishna Kumar, natives of Hyderabad. A software engineer, U. Hanumantha Rao, who invested around Rs.3.5 crore in a business with his uncle B. Srisaila Vasu, shot the latter dead with a licensed pistol on October 28. Mr. Rao hired the gang by paying Rs.10 lakh to eliminate his business partner, according to Krishna SP G. Vijay Kumar. Mr. Rao is still absconding.

The West Zone Police arrested four members, including a woman, in an attempt-to-murder case. Two siblings J. Subba Rao and J. Madhava Rao hired one Manikanta, G. Vinay Kumar and his wife Veena to kill their father Juluri Hanumantha Rao and his wife Ramadevi over a property dispute, on Ferry Road, under Ibrahimpatnam police station limits by setting them on fire on October 28.