The woman was pressuring the priest to marry her, said police. (Representational)
A 36-year-old temple priest was on Friday arrested for allegedly bludgeoning his paramour to death with a stone after she pressured him to marry her, police said.
In March, Kuruganti Apsara had asked Ayyagari Venkat Surya Sai Krishna to marry her even though she was aware that he was married. The woman blackmailed him saying if he failed to marry her she would expose him. Vexed with her behaviour, Sai Krishna decided to kill Apsara, a police release said.
On the night of June 3, he picked up the woman from her home, killed her and carried her body in a car. Later, he dumped it in a manhole.
He took the mother of the dead to a police station and lodged a false complaint stating that Apsara was missing.
On June 6, he brought two tipper loads of red soil and covered the manhole. He also burnt her handbag and luggage. After that he washed his car and parked it in his apartment.
The following day, he visited the spot and after noticing the bad smell emanating, he got some labourers to cover and seal the manhole with concrete.
After verifying the CCTV footage, the police found that there were contradictions in the account of the accused. During interrogation, he confessed to having murdered the woman, the release added.
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