A 25-year-old man was taken into custody on Tuesday along with four other accused by police in the Kamareddy district of Telangana for allegedly killing his friend and five members of his family including eight-year-old twins.
The murders were allegedly carried out by the prime accused M Prashant in different districts of Telangana between November 29 and December 13 as part of a pre-planned conspiracy to grab the property of his 36-year-old friend, Kamareddy District Superintendent of Police Sindhu Sharma told reporters.
Police took into custody the main accused Prashant, his juvenile brother and mother besides two hired associates in connection with the serial murders of the six family members.
The prime accused Prashant and his friend P Prasad were childhood friends and natives of Makloor village in Nizamabad district, police said.
On November 29, Prashant along with two hired associates allegedly killed Prasad in a forest area near Makloor village in Nizamabad district after hitting him with sticks and stones and buried his body there, police said.
Prashant later took Prasad's wife and other family members with him in a car on different dates on pretext of arranging a meeting with Prasad, claiming that he was evading the police in connection with a 2018 case booked against him, police said.
But, he murdered Prasad's wife (29), his friend's twin children and also his two sisters--aged 23 and 26 at different places in Medak, Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts along with the hired associates and his juvenile brother, police said.
Prashant also planned to kill Prasad's mother, though police rescued her, they said.
As Prashant was a close friend of Prasad and was also known to his family, the victim's family members believed him out of trust and went along with him whenever he took them and also did not approach the police, the senior official said.
The bodies of the two sisters and the twins were recovered and investigations were on to locate the bodies of Prasad (as it has to be exhumed) and his wife, police said.
The murder offences came to light through scientific methods of investigation, examination of CCTV footage, mobile phone tower data, after which the police narrowed down on the accused persons and established their links behind the six murders, the SP said.
Police began a probe after an unidentified woman's body in burnt condition was recovered under Sadashivanagar police station limits in Kamareddy district on December 14 and during the course of the investigation picked up the suspects including the main accused.
The accused "confessed" to investigators that they strangled the woman, who was later identified as sister of Prasad, to death and set the body on fire after pouring petrol.
During their further questioning they also "confessed" to police about the three other undetected murder cases committed earlier--one in Medak where another woman's body with burn injuries was found on December 1, which was later identified to be that of another sister of Prasad, and about killing the twin children of Prasad by throttling them, whose bodies were found near a bridge in Nizamabad district on December 4, police said.
The main accused also admitted killing his friend and burying his body on November 29 and murdering his wife by strangulation and throwing her body from a bridge in Basar on December 1, police said, adding their bodies were not found so far.
"It was a pre-planned conspiracy by the main accused to grab the property pertaining to a house and adjoining land of his friend located in Nizamabad district by murdering all his family members," the SP said on the motive behind the killings.
Prasad, who was facing a case of abetment of suicide of a woman since 2018 had gone to Gulf but was arrested after his return to Nizamabad district last year in connection with that case, police said.
Later, Prasad along with his family members shifted to Kamareddy district from Nizamabad district as he was facing a "social boycott" in Makloor village in Nizamabad district over the suicide of the woman, police said.
In May this year, Prashant had got Prasad's property transferred (registered) in his name after assuring him of getting mortgage loan but did not do so, though their friendship continued, the SP said.
In the meanwhile, Prashant with a view to grab his friend's property decided to kill him and his family members, police said.
"Prashant first killed his friend on November 29. He then took his friend's wife and sister in a car on December 1 on the pretext of taking them to his friend claiming that he was evading the police, but killed them. On December 4, he took his friend's twins, saying their father wanted them to be brought to him, but killed them," police said.
Later, the prime accused took Prasad's mother and another sister and kept them in a lodge in Nizamabad and also brought his mother to that lodge as part of his plan to convince them on arranging to meet Prasad, but he subsequently murdered Prasad's sister, police said.
Cases were registered on charges of murder and other relevant sections under IPC sections against the accused, police said adding the investigation was continuing.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
