NEW DELHI: What began as a quiet marriage in Telangana’s Gadwal town ended in a meticulously planned murder involving betrayal, an illicit affair, and contract killers. The victim — 32-year-old land surveyor Ganta Tejeshwar — was abducted and killed allegedly at the behest of his wife and her lover, who used a GPS tracker and a team of hired men to carry out the crime. Police have now arrested eight people, including the wife, her lover, and three contract killers.Victim tracked with GPS before killingPolice say the prime accused, V Tirumala Rao, 35, a manager at Can Fin Homes Ltd in Kurnool, and his lover T Sahasra alias Ishwarya, 23 — Tejeshwar’s wife — monitored the victim’s movements for over a month. A GPS tracker was secretly placed on Tejeshwar’s motorbike, and a local man named Jagan, from Gadwal, was enlisted to provide real-time updates.
From plot to kill his own wife to murdering her husbandInitially, Rao had allegedly planned to kill his own wife, but dropped the idea fearing repercussions from both families. He and Ishwarya then decided to eliminate Tejeshwar, who had married her just weeks earlier. Rao promised money and favours to a group of hired men from Kurnool to execute the murder.Killers posed as land buyers, lured victim to isolated spotThe three killers — K Nagesh, Ch Parashuramudu, and Ch Raju — befriended Tejeshwar by pretending to be land buyers. On June 17, they picked him up in a rented car near Krishna Reddy Bungalow in Gadwal and drove him to an isolated location near Erravalli. There, they slit his throat and strangled him inside the vehicle.His body was later dumped in a canal near Panyam Ghat Road in Nandyal, and his mobile phones were discarded in the Krishna River.Gang paid Rs 3.5 lakh; body shown to mastermind before disposalAfter the killing, the accused met Tirumala Rao in Panyam and showed him the body. Rao allegedly paid the gang ?2 lakh on the spot, part of the promised Rs 3.5 lakh. While they initially considered burying the body on Rao’s land, they later dumped it in the canal to avoid detection. The Swift Dzire used in the crime was later recovered.Vehicle check busts escape planThe escape plan fell apart when police intercepted the car carrying Rao and the three killers at the Pulluru inter-state toll plaza. A vehicle check led to their arrest. Based on their confessions, police arrested five more individuals:
- T Sahasra alias Ishwarya, wife of the victim and co-conspirator
- Tirupataiah, 64, Rao’s father and a retired APSP constable, who helped him hide
- Sujatha, Ishwarya’s mother, who was aware of the plot
- A Mohan, 30, a mason from Jammiched village who helped track Tejeshwar
- Jagan, the local informer from Gadwal
All eight have been remanded to judicial custody. Police are now seeking custody for crime scene reconstruction and recovery of remaining evidence, including two more vehicles used in the crime.A troubled marriage from the startTejeshwar, a resident of Rajaveedhi in Gadwal town, married Ishwarya on May 18 at a temple in Beechupalli, despite initial resistance from Tejeshwar’s family. Their original wedding in February was called off after Ishwarya went missing days before the ceremony. She resurfaced later claiming financial struggles, and convinced Tejeshwar to go ahead with the marriage.However, differences emerged within weeks. Tejeshwar was reportedly disturbed by his wife’s constant phone conversations with a man he did not know — now believed to be Tirumala Rao.Affair began with mother, shifted to daughterInvestigators say Rao initially had a relationship with Sujatha, Ishwarya’s mother, who worked as a sweeper at his office. In her absence, Ishwarya took over the cleaning duties, leading to her own affair with Rao. Police say she was fully aware of the murder conspiracy and even shared her husband’s live location with the killers.
