Hyderabad, July 01: A businessman from Karimnagar district, who was allegedly kidnapped 10 days ago, was found murdered and his body stuffed inside a refrigerator in an apartment at Uppal in the city.
The family had paid Rs 1 lakh as ransom to the abductors after the kidnap but they murdered him nevertheless, police said.
G Srinivas (45), was a resident of Sircilla town and was involved in the textiles business. According to Sircilla police, he left home on June 20 telling his family that he is going to Hyderabad on business. Two days later, the family received a threat call from unidentified persons who claimed that Srinivas was kidnapped and demanded Rs 20 lakh for his release.
The abductors gave an account number and asked the family to deposit the money in it. “For two days, the family deposited Rs 1 lakh in instalments into the account and the money was withdrawn by the abductors from various ATMs in the city,” Sircilla circle inspector Vijay Kumar said.
The abductors, however, did not allow them to speak to Srinivas, which roused their suspicion and they approached the police on June 24.
After tracking down the numbers from which the calls were made, a team of policemen from Sircilla on Thursday raided a flat in the ARK Residency at Chiluka Nagar under the Uppal police station limits. “The body was stuffed inside a refrigerator and bore head injury,” police said. As the body was kept in the fridge, it had not decomposed and hence did not emanate foul smell, they added.
According to sources, the police tracked down the body based on the confession of a suspect. “We are interrogating him. The main accused, however, is absconding,” a senior official said.
Investigators suspect the victim’s illicit relations with a woman might have led to the killing.
—Agencies