Burnt Body, No Witnesses, A Papad Packet Helped Solve Andhra Murder Case

A mysterious murder case involving a burnt, unidentified body and treated as a blind case initially was cracked with the help of scientific investigation and a small clue recovered from the crime scene - an appadam (papad) packet.

The Rayadurgan police of Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh arrested two men, identified as Basavaraju (31) and Kotresh (36), both from Ballari district in Karnataka, for allegedly murdering a man for money and attempting to destroy his identity by burning the body.

The case began on June 23, when the burnt body of an unidentified man was found in an agricultural field near Pulakurthi village in D Hirehal mandal of the Anantapur district. 

With no eyewitnesses and very little evidence available, police launched a detailed investigation using forensic and technical methods.

During the examination of the crime scene, investigators recovered a partially burnt Kannada newspaper, burnt clothes, a sacred thread and an appadam packet and this packet became the key clue in the investigation.

Police traced the manufacturer of the appadam packet to Chennai and followed its supply chain to Ballari. During enquiries, they found that a deaf and mute appadam vendor, Gururaju Rao, had been missing for several days. Based on the recovered evidence, police identified the burnt body as Gururaju Rao.

Further investigation revealed that money had been withdrawn from the victim's ATM card after his death. CCTV footage from ATM centres helped police identify one of the accused through his movements and sign language. 

Technical evidence and call records later led to the second accused.

Anantapur District SP P Jagadish said the accused allegedly targeted Gururaju Rao believing he had huge savings from his appadam business and temple-related work. 

They allegedly took him to a deserted location, murdered him, burnt his body to hide his identity and escaped with his motorcycle, mobile phone and ATM card.

The accused were arrested on July 8 near Obulapuram Cross in D Hirehal mandal. Since both accused are deaf and mute, police questioned them with the help of sign language experts.

Police recovered the victim's TVS XL vehicle, ATM card, mobile phone and appadam bundles.