Hyderabad woman murder: Priest hatched plan three months ago

The accused priest dumped the victim's body inside a manhole in Saroornagar after killing her. He covered the manhole with red clay and concrete.

Hyderabad (Telangana): A married priest accused of killing a woman in the wee hours of June 4, had hatched the murder plan in March and even searched on the Internet on how to kill a human being, police officials have revealed.

The accused identified as Ayyagari Venkata Surya Saikrishna had allegedly killed Apsara, who became pregnant following their illicit relationship. He dumped her body in a manhole in the city. The accused was produced before a local court on Saturday. He was remanded to 14-day police custody. A senior police official, probing the case, said that Saikrishna, who working as a priest in the Bangaru Maisamma temple in the Saroornagar area, had hatched the entire plan in March itself.

"The accused for three months was searching for a suitable place on the outskirts of the city, where he could commit the crime. He also searched on the Internet for how to kill a human being," the police official said. According to police, the accused resorted to the extreme step as the woman brought enormous pressure on him to marry her.

Saikrishna, who is married and has a child, hacked Apsara to death using a stone at an isolated place in the Shamshabad Mandal, at around 3.30 am. He burnt her clothes and wanted to burn the body, police said, adding he did not get any firewood. And so he ferried the body in his car and dumped it in a manhole. He later covered the manhole with red clay and concrete, they said.