Honey-trapped on WhatsApp, Telugu NRI businessman killed for unpaid loans

A real estate broker from Hyderabad planned an elaborate honey trap and then killed Chigurupati Jayaram, an NRI businessman and CEO of a defunct Telugu news channel in Telangana last week in a fit of rage over unpaid loans, the Andhra Pradesh police said Tuesday.

Jayaram was found dead in rear seat of his car at Nandiagama in Krishna district close to Vijayawada in the early hours of January 31, triggering sensation in the Telugu-speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Krishna district superintendent of police Sarva Sreshta Tripathi said the accused Rakesh Reddy who was arrested on Tuesday, had murdered the businessman over a monetary dispute.

“Jayaram who lived in Florida used to come to Hyderabad regularly to look after his business. He was a director in a private bank and also owned a media house which was closed due to losses. He took heavy loans from Reddy but did not repay them for a long time. As the debts mounted to over Rs 4 crore and Reddy started pressurising him, Jayaram returned to USA and blocked Reddy’s phone number,” the SP said.

In a bid to recover money from Jayaram, Reddy created a WhatsApp number in the name of a pretty woman and started chatting with the former, the officer said. When Jayaram came to Hyderabad a few days ago, Reddy laid a trap for him. Impersonating as a woman, Reddy persuaded him to come alone to his house in Hyderabad’s Jubilee hills. When Jayaram arrived, Reddy and his accomplice started demanding that he return the money.

“Under pressure from Reddy, Jayaram arranged payment of just Rs 6 lakh. In a fit of rage, Reddy banged the NRI’s head on a sofa killing him instantly. As Jayaram was supposed to go to Vijayawada, Reddy tried to dispose the body on the highway near Vijayawada,” Tripathi said.

The police managed to track the accused by obtaining footage from the CCTV at different toll gates. Police also matched the beer bottles seen in the hands of the accused in CCTV footage near a wine shop in Nandigama to those empty bottles found near the car where Reddy left Jayaram’s body.

The SP said two Telangana police officials had helped Rakesh Reddy in shifting the body of Jayaram from Hyderabad to Vijayawada.

Based on the information shared by AP police, the Telangana police initiated action on Station officer of Nallakunta police station Srinivas and Assistant Commissioner of Police of Ibrahimpatnam Malla Reddy who allegedly gave tips the culprit to erase the evidence. The two policemen have been attached to the police headquarters.