The police began investigation based on a woman's complaint (Representational)
The police in Telangana's Nagarkurnool district arrested a 'serial killer' who was allegedly involved in the murders of as many as 11 people in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Ramati Sathyanarayana (47), a native of Nagarkurnool, about 130 kms from Hyderabad, brutally killed 11 people by deceiving them on the promise of unearthing hidden treasures for them, the police said.
The modus operandi of the accused was to lure people in the name of finding treasures for them by making them believe that he could do so by performing a puja.
He would take money or get lands registered in his name and then take the victims to isolated places where he killed them by pouring acid and some unknown poison, a police release said.
As soon as they became partially unconscious, he threw boulders on their head, it said.
The accused was involved in these kind of offences since 2020 and managed to stay away from the police.
"... so far, the accused killed 11 persons, including women. As of now his role is identified in eight cases across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka," the release said.
The police began investigation after a woman complained on November 26 that her husband had left their Hyderabad home to meet one Sathyanarayana in Nagarkurnool but did not return after five days.
When the woman and her family met the accused to know her husband's whereabouts before she approaching the police, he did not give proper answers, the release said.
The police officer at Nagarkurnool, who took up the investigation, found the accused's behaviour to be suspicious.
The accused, who was in real estate business in Nagarkurnool and also practised herbal medicine, was in the habit of going on treasure hunts, the police said.
He informed his friends in the real estate business about his practices to find the hidden treasures.
The complainant's husband, Venkatesh, and his friends who came to know about the accused, approached him to find hidden treasures, the release said.
He agreed to their request and asked them for money with a condition that only Venkatesh should contact him during the process of finding the treasure.
After claiming to be making efforts to find it, the accused told Venkatesh that three pregnant women should be sacrificed which caused fear in the latter. Venkatesh asked the accused to return the money.
However, the accused gave some poisonous herbs to the victim claiming it was holy water on December 4 and took him to a hillock the same day on the pretext of performing a puja and killed him by pouring acid after he fell unconscious, the release said.
During investigation, based on credible information, the police arrested the accused.
"During investigation, unbelievable and sensational killings of 10 more persons was unearthed in the confession of the accused Ramati Sathyanarayana," the release said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)