Police arrest four for murder of youth

Accused wanted to take revenge on father of the victim

The death of a youth from Kathalgudem under suspicious circumstances here last week was a planned murder by a group of four youth, supported by their family and a ‘black magic expert’, Nalgonda police disclosed to media on Monday.

Dasari Naveen, 20, a student of degree second year, was found dead in a pool of blood on Thursday early hours, a few hundred metres from his house at Kathalgudem on the town outskirts. He had left the house the previous evening when he received a phone call.

According to Nalgonda Town-I police and DSP G. Venkateswar Reddy, N. Srikanth, D. Harish, M. Shekar and K. Raju bludgeoned the victim with beer bottles and then hit him with a boulder.

The killing was done reportedly to avenge the death of one Dasari Ramesh, who ended his life unable to bear stomach pain. However, his family members suspected that the suicide was driven by black magic performed by his neighbour Balaiah who had benefited in a land deal in which both were involved.

Ramesh’s family members approached a ‘black magic expert’ in Miryalaguda, who ‘confirmed’ that Ramesh’s suicide was a result of black magic performed by Balaiah, the police explained. “They wanted to make Balaiah feel how it is lose a son, and so devised a plan to murder Naveen,” the DSP said.

Inspector Suresh said the accused were nabbed based on the beer bottles found near the crime scene, their trail to a liquor store and the CCTV footage there.

All the four have been booked for murder and sent on judicial remand to Nalgonda jail. Their seven family members and the ‘expert’ from Miryalaguda, who are parties to the crime, will also be taken into custody on Tuesday.