Secunderabad man killed for helping inter-caste couple get married

The victim, Burugu Karthik, was attacked with a knife and a wooden stick near a Ganesh mandapam.

Hyderabad: Police have arrested five people in connection with the murder of a 26-year-old man in Secunderabad’s Tukaramgate area, saying the killing stemmed from a nearly three-year-old grudge over the victim’s role in helping a couple from different castes marry against family opposition.

The victim, Burugu Karthik, was attacked with a knife and a wooden stick near a Ganesh mandapam outside the accused family’s house in Sai Nagar on September 13 and later succumbed to his injuries at Gandhi Hospital, according to the Lallaguda Police.

Grudge traced to 2023 inter-caste marriage

Police said Karthik had earlier assisted one Rajahmandry Karthik in his relationship and marriage to Bhanu Sri, daughter of the main accused, on November 4, 2023, a union the woman’s family had opposed. The accused had since harboured hostility towards him and had previously quarrelled with and threatened him over the matter.

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On the evening of September 13, Karthik came near the mandapam and got into an altercation with the family. He returned around 8.50 pm with friends, at which point the accused allegedly confronted him. 

According to the police and closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage examined during the investigation, one of the accused, Gaddi Praveen Kumar, brought a knife from the house and handed it to Gaddi Madan Kumar, who stabbed Karthik in the neck, while the others assaulted him with a bamboo stick and their hands.

A case was registered at Lallaguda Police Station under Section 103(1) read with 3(5) (murder committed with a common intention by multiple persons) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, based on a complaint filed by the victim’s wife, Burugu Anusha, at Gandhi Hospital the same night.

Five family members held

The five accused, all residents of Buddha Nagar in Tukaramgate, were identified as Madan Kumar, 47, a bus mechanic with the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), Praveen Kumar, 43, who runs a furniture business; Sai Kumar, 41, Nagesh alias Nageshwar Rao, 52, and Narsing Rao, 76.

Four of them were arrested on Tuesday, September 15, and produced before a court for judicial custody, while the fifth was apprehended on Wednesday, September 16.

Police recovered the knife used in the attack, a blood-stained bamboo stick, blood-stained material from the scene and vehicles, the victim’s clothes and a blood-stained T-shirt belonging to one of the accused. CCTV footage and the accused’s mobile phones were also seized as part of the investigation.

Warning against retaliation

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Secunderabad Zone) Rakshitha Krishna Murthy warned against any attempt at retaliation or vigilante action by the victim’s associates or others, saying social media was being closely monitored and that anyone found inciting tension or glorifying violence would be booked under the law.

“The safety of our citizens is non-negotiable. We have acted swiftly to arrest those responsible for this heinous crime, and we will act with equal force against anyone else who seeks to destabilise the peace of this locality,” she said.