Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh police have unravelled the mysterious death of Florida-based businessman Chigurupathy Jayaram in Hyderabad with officials revealing that he was murdered after being honey-trapped. The police have arrested a real-estate agent and a driver in connection with the crime.
According to police officers, Jayaram was killed after he failed to repay a loan taken from the real estate agent. The prime accused in the case is real estate agent Rakesh Reddy. His driver Sreenivas has also been made an accused.
Jayaram was lured to a vacant house using a fake WhatsApp account of a young woman and murdered, the police said.
The NRI businessman was found dead on the rear seat of a car on the side of the national highway at Nandiagama near Vijayawada on January 31. When the police interrogated several persons, including Jayaram’s relatives, they obtained vital clues.
Jayaram, a director of Coastal Bank, had availed a loan of Rs 4 crore from Rakesh Reddy but had not repaid it, said SP Sarvasresht Tripathi. Jayaram was also the MD of Express TV, a Telugu channel. This channel is not functioning now.
Jayaram had arrived in Hyderabad from the US only a few days ago. But when Rakesh Reddy began demanding his money back, Jayaram blocked his number. Soon Rakesh Reddy created a WhatsApp account with a profile picture of a young lady using another number and contacted Jayaram. The NRI soon began chatting with the 'woman'.
The 'woman' subsequently invited Jayaram to a house in Jubilee Hills. When the businessman reached there, Reddy and his driver were waiting for him. They thrashed Jayaram demanding Rs 6 crore, including interest. Jayaram was severely injured in the head during the attack and soon succumbed to the injuries.
Reddy and Sreenivas took the body in Jayaram's car to Krishna district and abandoned both beside the national highway. The police traced the killers with the help of CCTV images obtained from the Hyderabad-Vijayawada National Highway. The murderers had also stopped Jayaram's car at Nandiagama to buy liquor. Empty liquor bottles were also found beside the body.
Police said Rakesh Reddy had formed a friendship with Jayaram after helping him during a crisis. Later Reddy had also become friendly with Jayaram's niece Sikha Chowdhury. Now investigation is on to ascertain whether any others are involved in the crime.
