Hyderabad: The Rachakonda police on Tuesday arrested ex-Army jawan, Putta Gurumurthy, for the premeditated murder of his wife, Putta Venkata Madhavi, at their house in Meerpet on Jan 16. After strangling her to death, the accused allegedly dismembered her body, ground her bones and flushed it down the toilet. He dumped some parts in a nearby lake as well.
While the police had initially filed a missing case, they altered it to murder, disappearance of evidence and cruelty to women under Sections 103(1), 238 and 85 of the BNS respectively, following Gurumurthy’s confession.
“He had planned the murder and was waiting for an opportunity to execute it,” said G Sudheer Babu, police commissioner, Rachakonda. He added: “To avoid being caught, the accused disposed of his wife’s body in an inhuman and barbaric manner.”
According to the commissioner, Gurumurthy showed no sign of remorse even while admitting to the crime.
“Initially, we did not believe his claims as they were extremely gory. But as the investigation unfolded and the evidence corroborated his statements, even we were shocked,” said a visibly shaken Sudheer Babu.
Police said that Gurumurthy first confessed to the crime to Madhavi’s maternal uncle who in turn informed the cops. Subsequently, his confession was recorded, the crime scene was reconstructed, and he was arrested.
“We have collected strong evidence in the form of technical, scientific, and oral testimonies which proves his role in the crime. The same will be submitted in court. We will complete the investigation soon and file a chargesheet to ensure the accused is convicted,” said Sudheer Babu.
Sharing further details, police said that the accused intentionally dropped his two children off at his sister’s place for three days so that he could be alone with the victim. He was waiting for the right opportunity to execute the crime.
“On the morning of Jan 16, he picked up an argument with her over old petty issues and banged her head against the wall. Later, he sat on her and throttled her,” said a police official, adding, “After contemplating his next step, he dragged the body into the bathroom, removed her clothes and chopped it using a knife at home. Later, he boiled the flesh using an immersion rod and burnt the bones on a raw flame. He flushed the powdered bones in the toilet at home. He repeated the last action several times.”
To minimise the odour, Gurumurthy kept the kitchen windows open. He also cleaned the bathroom several times with detergent and phenyl to wash out traces.
“When the children came the next day he told them that their mother was out and would return soon. When they asked about the unusual smell, he told them that it was because he had cleaned the house using phenyl. For two days, he also kept them away from the bedroom where he had kept Madhavi’s clothes,” the official said.
According to the commissioner, Gurumurthy showed no sign of anxiety and was calm even while he tried to mislead the investigating team. “When he confessed he rather calmly said that he had disposed of the remains at a garbage dump at the lake and the civic workers might have collected them with other waste,” said Sudheer Babu, adding that the police will seek his custody for a thorough investigation.
Incidentally, during his tenure in the Army, Gurumurthy had a clean record and was even known for his good behaviour, police added.
