A 35-year-old man, his wife and their two 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 his brother-in-law’s murder.
The man, his wife (30) and their two sons, both under five, jumped in front of a moving goods train at Platform No. 2, said V Sriram, sub-inspector of the Government Railway Police in Singarayakonda.
“We have identified the man’s body based on the Aadhaar card recovered from the spot,” Sriram said, adding that the bodies have been shifted to a government hospital for postmortem.
The deceased, a native of Thotapalli RV Kandrika village in Gudur mandal in Nellore district, was the son-in-law of Buchireddypalem mandal agriculture officer, Nadavati Srihari, whose death on June 15 was initially believed to be natural.
Nellore Police Deputy Inspector (Rural), Jathamanini Srinivasa Rao, on Monday said that Srihari’s death was a “cold-blooded murder” allegedly orchestrated by his brother-in-law.
According to the DSP, Srihari traveled to the Penchalakona temple with his brother-in-law on June 15.
“While returning from Benchalakona, two accomplices allegedly tied Srihari inside the car while his brother-in-law injected him with a lethal substance usually used to euthanize dogs,” Srinivasa Rao said.
The accused allegedly brought Srihari’s body home and claimed that he had a heart attack. Since no complaint was made immediately, the body was cremated, destroying important 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 called the police after her brother demanded the remaining share of Srihari’s property, strengthening her suspicions.
Following her complaint, Nellore Superintendent of Police, Ajitha Vijindla, ordered a fresh investigation, which concluded that Srihari was killed in a property dispute.
“On July 12, we arrested two alleged accomplices, Sompali Ravindra and Bhushingari Yanadai, while Lavanya’s brother absconded,” the LDF said.
Following the revelation of the murder, Guntur Range Inspector General of Police Sarvashreshtha Tripathi on Monday posted Buchireddypalem Circle Inspector Mathangi Srinivasa Rao in vacant reserve to handle the case. The district SP also transferred all the 23 personnel working at Buchireddypalem police station and attached sub-inspector Santosh Kumar Reddy to the SP office.
A day after police declared Srihari’s death a homicide, his brother-in-law, wife and their two children were found dead on railway tracks.
The police also found a video from the man’s mobile phone in which he claimed that he was innocent and did not have any property disputes with anyone.
“He also said that no one was responsible for his death and that he was only committing suicide to avoid humiliation,” the police added.
