Days after the charred corpse of a 27-year-old techie was found in a suitcase in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati, the police today arrested the woman's husband, who was seen on security footage carting the suitcase around.
Bhuvaneswari worked for Cognizant in Hyderabad. Her husband, Maramreddy Sreekanth Reddy, an engineer, was tracked down to a place near Vijaywada through his mobile, said the police.
After her burnt body was found near Ruia hospital on June 23, the police had arrested a taxi driver on suspicion the next day.
In the interrogation that followed, the taxi driver revealed that Mr Reddy travelled from his apartment and back carrying a heavy suitcase along with his child.
The child was left in the cab while the accused set the body on fire, the driver alleged.
Mr Reddy had explained his wife's absence to relatives saying she had died of Covid.
What possibly nailed him was CCTV footage of the apartment, provided by Bhuvaneswari's relative Mamatha, a trainee sub-inspector.
The footage shows Mr Reddy bringing in a suitcase into their home, holding his little daughter, and rolling the big suitcase with the other hand.
Later, he is seen struggling to hold the baby and also rolling out the suitcase, now apparently heavy.
The video evidence coupled with the information received from the taxi driver helped the police zero in on Mr Reddy, police added.
The police said during the interrogation, Mr Reddy denied killing his wife and maintained that her death was due to an accidental fall on the floor at their home in the apartment complex.
The police also found that he had visited the site where he had burnt the body thrice to ensure it was fully burnt.
A dowry death charge, that puts the burden of proof on the accused, has been listed against Mr Reddy.
The couple were married two-and-half years ago.
They met while working in the same Hyderabad-based software company. Bhuvaneshwari moved to Tirupati on the request of her husband, according to the police.
It is learnt that the couple had frequent quarrels in the last few months.
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