4 arrested for death of Hyderabad veterinarian, cops suspect rape

The police suspect the vehicle was deliberately punctured by the culprits to trap the woman.

Hyderabad: In a recent development, four people have been taken into custody, a day after the body of 27-year-old veterinarian, which was badly burnt, was found near Hyderabad. According to police, she may have been raped before she was killed. Police is trying to arrest the culprits.

On Wednesday night, 27-year-old Priyanka Reddy, working as a veterinary doctor at Kollur in Mahbubnagar district, went missing. Her charred body was found under a bridge on National Highway 44 at Chattanpally, close to Shadnagar on Thursday. The police suspect that the body was shifted to another place and set ablaze by the suspects.

Priyanka had an appointment at Olive Skin Care Hospital in Gachibowli and left the house at 5.50 pm on her bike. She parked the bike near Thonudpally toll-plaza and took private transport to go to Gachibowli.

At around 9.22 pm, she called her younger sister Bhavya and informed her that her bike had a flat tyre and some stranger had offered her help to get it repaired. But he had returned the bike without getting it repaired and his presence scared her. When her family members called back at 9.44 pm, her phone was switched off.

Since she did not return home late in the night and her phone was found to be switched off, her family searched for her and then lodged a complaint with the Shamshabad police.

At around 7 am on Thursday, the police received information about the charred body. A scarf was found a few feet away from the body. The police asked the family members to come to the spot for identifying the body. Upon seeing the scarf and a pendant of Lord Ganesh around her neck, they confirmed it was her. During the probe, the police found that Priyanka was killed at a secluded place close to the toll plaza and her body, along with her scooter was shifted to the outskirts of Chattanpally.

Police checked the footage from the CCTV cameras of the toll plaza. It contained pictures of Priyanka crossing the road near the toll plaza at around 9 pm but the abduction was not captured.

The investigation teams recovered innerwear, footwear and an identification card of Priyanka from the bushes near the toll plaza on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, the missing bike of Priyanka was recovered by the police from bushes on the road side of National Highway 44 near Kothur village. The registration number plate of the bike was removed and was dumped on the road side by the offenders, the police suspect.

The police suspect the vehicle was deliberately punctured by the culprits to trap the woman.

Condemning the crime, the National Commission for Women said it was sending a member to Hyderabad to help the woman's family and meet the police.

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