A woman whose body was found on Thursday, April 18, after she went missing earlier in Hyderabad, was allegedly murdered by the priest of a temple she used to visit frequently, police said. The woman, identified as 57-year-old Uma Devi, had gone on her daily walk to the temple at 6.30 pm on April 18, but never returned, following which her family approached the police and put out appeals on social media. The body was found behind the temple in some bushes.
The accused has been identified as 42-year-old Anumula Murali Krishna and police said that he allegedly killed the woman in a bid to steal and sell her jewellery. The missing message circulated earlier on social media also said that she was wearing a dark green saree, three gold bangles on each hand and small earrings.
A jeweller, Joshi Nanda Kishore, who bought the gold from the priest was also identified and arrested. The police said that they recovered two gold bangles and Rs 1 lakh in cash from Murali Krishna, besides 35 pieces of gold, made from the remaining bangles, from Kishore.
The police said that the woman used to regularly visit the temple and wear gold ornaments, which the priest began to eye, as he had financial problems. The police said that Murali Krishna, “murdered her brutally by beating her on the head with an iron rod repeatedly.”
“Further, the accused, after confirming the death of the deceased, dumped her body in a plastic drum, closed it with a cap and cleaned the floor with water which he brought earlier and kept in the temple. Thereafter, the accused robbed the gold ornaments from the deceased and sold the same. Later, he tried to dispose of the body by taking it to an isolated place in a trolley but could succeed as the locals and police officials were searching for the woman,” the police said in a press note.
Investigation officials further said that as the body began emitting a bad odour after two days, the accused rolled the drum back to the temple and dumped it in some bushes behind it. He allegedly brought the empty drum back into the temple, cleaned it and kept it back in its original place. “As the bad odour was still emitting, again he cleaned the place inside the temple and further lit incense sticks,” the police press note stated. Two iron rods, one plastic drum and signs of blood stains from the temple floor were presented in a local court by the police as evidence.
On April 18, as Uma Devi did not return, her family enquired with the priest of the temple who confirmed that she had visited the place. However, CCTV footage did not show her returning from the temple. Police suspected that the woman’s body may have been dumped at the spot only on Wednesday as officials who had combed the area earlier did not come across it.