Telangana Police have cracked the mystery behind the sensational killing of a biker by a hitchhiker who jabbed him with a lethal injection. Khammam police arrested the victim’s wife and five men, including a Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP), for the murder on Monday, September 19.
Around 9 am on Monday, September 19, 48-year-old Shaik Jamal Saheb was enroute to his daughter’s house in Andhra’s Gundrai village from Telangana’s Khammam district on his bike when he stopped for a man requesting a lift. The man claimed that the petrol in his bike had gotten over. After travelling around 100 m, the hitchhiker, now identified as B Venkanna, asked Jamal to stop. He got off saying someone was coming with petrol. Just as he got down, he injected a drug into Jamal’s hip and immediately fled from the spot. He was soon picked up by one of the other accused, Venkatesh.
In shock about what had just happened, a helpless Jamal continued his journey for a little while until he noticed some local residents on the road. He stopped and requested some water and told them that a hitchhiker had injected him with a drug and then fled. He told them that he was feeling very drowsy and asked them to inform his daughter about what had transpired. The local residents rushed Jamal to Vallabhi hospital where he was declared brought dead.
According to the police, there were no CCTV cameras in the area of crime and this added to the complexity of the case. Everyone was left wondering who was the man who gave Jamal the lethal jab and what was his motive. During the investigation, the police got a lead from Jamal’s village that a few days ago he had had a tiff with his wife Imambee after he found her with a man at their home. He had beaten her in a fit of rage suspecting that she was having an affair.
The police soon found out that Imambee worked as a labour leader and was in a relationship with Mohan Rao, an auto driver. Imambee would hire Mohan’s auto to transport labourers. They had been in an extramarital relationship for around two years. When Jamal caught them red-handed, they decided to murder him.
Mohan got into touch with Venkanna, an RMP at Namavaram village, and another aide of his called Venkatesh. He promised to pay Venkanna Rs 5,000, and handed him Rs 3,500 to arrange for the lethal drug. Venkanna got in touch with his friend Yeshwanth, who works as an operation theatre assistant in a hospital, and asked for his help. Yeshwanth sourced two Neovac anaesthesia injections from Samba Siva Rao, who also works as an operation theatre assistant in another hospital.
According to the police, the drug was arranged about three months back and handed over to Imambee to administer to Jamal but as she couldn’t do it, Mohan came up with an alternative plan. A day before the incident, Imambee had informed Mohan that Jamal would be travelling by bike to Andhra to meet their daughter. Mohan hatched his plan accordingly.
The police arrested Imambee, Mohan Rao, Venkanna, Venkatesh, Yeshwanth and Samba Siva Rao who were booked under 302 IPC (murder) and other relevant sections.
Speaking to TNM, Khammam Commissioner Vishnu S Warrier said, “The drug that the accused used stops the heartbeat of a person in three minutes. Usually oxygen support is administered when the drug is used on patients.”
Speaking about the investigation, the Commissioner said, “Call tower locations, CCTV footage from a nearby petrol bunk, etc. aided in the investigation. But human intelligence was what worked most in cracking this case.”