Serial murders: Accused sentenced to life imprisonment

Eluru: In a major breakthrough, the Eluru 8th district and sessions court on Thursday awarded stringent punishment in the sensational serial murder case that shocked the State in 2019.

In a criminal case registered at Eluru Three Town Police Station, the court found the accused guilty in a series of murders involving systematic cheating and cold-blooded killings. The prime accused, Vellanki Simhadri alias Siva, along with his associate Shaik Ameenulla Babu, lured victims with promises of high returns through fake real estate deals, rice-pulling coins, and gemstones.

According to the prosecution, the accused poisoned the victims by mixing cyanide in religious ‘prasadam’, claiming it to be Tirupati prasadam for Hindus and Jerusalem prasadam for Christians. After the victims collapsed, they were robbed of cash and gold, resulting in the murder of ten people across various districts. The Eluru 8th Additional District and Sessions Judge convicted the accused and sentenced Vellanki Simhadri to life imprisonment under Section 302 IPC, an additional life term under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Shaik Ameenulla Babu was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. During investigation, police took the accused into custody on suspicion, and shocking details emerged during interrogation. The victims included Eluru residents Moolike Ramulamma, Kati Nagaraju, and Chodavarapu Suryanarayana, Samanthakurthi Nagamani (Bommuru), Kothapalli Raghavamma (Rajahmundry), Ramakrishna Nanda Swamiji (Rajahmundry), Vallabhaneni Umamaheswara Rao (Nuzvid), Pulaparthi Tavitayya (Nuzvid), Kadiyala Bala Venkateswara Rao (Gannavaram), and Gandikota Venkata Bhaskara Rao (Agiripalli).

Police recovered cash and gold linked to all ten murder cases from the accused and informed the respective police stations concerned.

SP K Pratap Shiva Kishore congratulated the Court Monitoring Cell officers, investigating team, and the Special Public Prosecutor for their effective coordination, meticulous presentation of evidence, and for securing convictions in this landmark case.