Man accused of relative’s murder found dead, with his wife and two children

A 35-year-old man, his wife and their two young sons were found dead on railway tracks at Singarayakonda railway station in Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district on Tuesday, a day after police named him the prime accused in the murder of his brother-in-law

A 35-year-old man, his wife and their two young sons were found dead on railway tracks at Singarayakonda railway station in Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district on Tuesday, a day after police named him the prime accused in the murder of his brother-in-law.

Singarayakonda Government Railway Police sub-inspector V Sriram said the man, his wife (30) and their two sons, both below the age of five, jumped in front of a moving goods train at platform No. 2.

“We have identified the body of the man based on the Aadhaar card recovered from the spot,” Sriram said, adding that the bodies had been shifted to a government hospital for postmortem.

The deceased, a native of Thotapalli RV Kandrika village in Gudur mandal of Nellore district, was the brother-in-law of Buchireddypalem mandal agriculture officer Nadavati Srihari, whose death on June 15 was initially believed to be natural.

On Monday, Nellore (Rural) deputy superintendent of police Ghattamaneni Srinivasa Rao said Srihari’s death was a “cold-blooded murder” allegedly masterminded by his brother-in-law.

According to the DSP, Srihari had travelled with his brother-in-law to the Penchalakona temple on June 15.

“While returning from Penchalakona, two accomplices allegedly restrained Srihari inside the vehicle while the brother-in-law injected him with a lethal substance commonly used to euthanise dogs,” Srinivasa Rao said.

The accused allegedly brought Srihari’s body home and claimed he had suffered a heart attack. As no complaint was lodged immediately, the body was cremated, destroying crucial forensic evidence.

The case took a turn after Srihari’s wife, N Lavanya, filed a complaint through the Public Grievance Redressal System (PGRS) on July 6, suspecting foul play. She later approached the police after her brother allegedly demanded the remaining share of Srihari’s property, strengthening her suspicions.

Following her complaint, Nellore superintendent of police Ajitha Vejendla ordered a fresh investigation, which concluded that Srihari was murdered in a property dispute.

“On July 12, we arrested two alleged accomplices, Sompalli Ravindra and Buchingari Yanadayy, while Lavanya’s brother absconded,” the DSP said.

After the murder was uncovered, Guntur Range inspector general of police Sarvashreshtha Tripathi on Monday placed Buchireddypalem circle inspector Mathangi Srinivasa Rao in the vacancy reserve over the handling of the case. The district SP also transferred all 23 personnel posted at Buchireddypalem police station and attached sub-inspector Santosh Kumar Reddy to the SP’s office.

A day after police declared Srihari’s death a murder, his brother-in-law, the latter’s wife and their two children were found dead on the railway tracks.

Police also recovered a selfie video from the man’s mobile phone in which he claimed he was innocent and had no property disputes with anyone.

“He also said nobody was responsible for his death and he was taking his life only to avoid humiliation,” police said.