Matta Reddy, a real estate businessman, Hafeez and two others were suspects in the murder of Srinivasa Reddy and his acquaintance Raghavendra Reddy, who was shot dead by unidentified persons near Ibrahimpatnam at Rachakonda Police Commissionerate on Tuesday.
The needle of suspicion naturally moved towards Matta Reddy and Hafeez (supervisors of the slain Srinivas Reddy) as they reached the crime scene much earlier than the other persons. Matta Reddy and Srinivasa Reddy allegedly had two real estate ventures near Ibrahimpatnam.
“It looks like they had some minor issues regarding the settlement of their land,” a police officer said on condition of anonymity. They used to meet occasionally to sort out differences. “But Matta Reddy’s arrival at the scene soon after the murders came to light, raised doubts about his immediate arrival at the crime scene,” the official said.
Hafeez told the police officials that he got information about the double murder through a relative of Srinivas Reddy and rushed to the spot. He was taken into custody for questioning to find out who the relative of Srinivasa Reddy was.
Police suspect that Srinivas Reddy, Raghavendra Reddy and an unidentified third person started in a vehicle towards Ibrahimpatnam. “This third person is an important link in the double homicide trace,” investigators said. They speculate that Srinivasa Reddy accompanied Raghavendra Reddy to the spot (where he was shot) to discuss an issue with a third person.
His mobile phone call data records indicate that he spoke to the owner of a borewell drilling machine in Nalgonda. To confirm this a team of police went to Nalgonda and whether the person has any clue about the double murder.
Raghavendra Reddy was reportedly facing some criminal cases. He had recently come out of jail on bail and was with Srinivas Reddy during business deals since then. He was one of the accused in the murder of a lawyer reported in 2004.
There were also some allegations of trespass against Srinivasa Reddy. He himself had lodged a complaint against some people for grabbing the land. All of this suggested that the twin murders may have occurred as a result of a real estate dispute or previous enmity.