Hyderabad Man Killed By Attacker Who Blamed Him For Father's 1999 Encounter

A regular, everyday commute of a dad dropping his daughter at school, turned into a violent, brazen, daylight murder, in the midst of traffic and onlookers, and now, investigation reveals, it was triggered by a long-simmering revenge over decades.

The daylight killing of a realtor, G Venkata Ratnam, in Hyderabad on Monday, has taken on a chilling, decades-spanning angle of vengeance, transforming the roadside murder into a real-life saga reminiscent of a crime thriller.

The victim, 54-year-old Venkata Ratnam, was brutally attacked by a gang shortly after dropping his daughter at school. While initial police inquiries suggested the motive lay in recent real estate disputes, a parallel and more personal narrative has now emerged, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

The prime suspect, Chandan Singh, is reportedly the son of Sudesh Singh, who was killed in a controversial police encounter in 1999. 

Sources indicate that Chandan Singh believed Venkata Ratnam, who was allegedly a driver for Sudesh Singh at the time, had acted as an informer, leading to his father's death 26 years ago.

The alleged betrayal is said to have fuelled a quarter-century-long obsession for revenge by Chandan Singh, according to a reported confession by the accused.

Chandan Singh is believed to have spent the intervening years searching for Venkata Ratnam, who had reportedly settled and was living with his family in Hyderabad's Jawahar Nagar area.

After locating the victim in recent weeks, Chandan Singh allegedly spent the last month tailing him and meticulously planning the execution.

​The attack yesterday morning played out with brutal precision. CCTV footage, which has reportedly circulated widely, captured the dramatic sequence.

​Venkata Ratnam, riding his scooter, was intercepted by the attackers arriving in an auto-rickshaw and on a motorcycle.

The auto-rickshaw allegedly came in the reverse direction to block the victim, allowing the attackers to strike.

​The gang, which included men who reportedly worked in Chandan Singh's auto workshop, stabbed Venkata Ratnam multiple times in the stomach, back, and neck.

In a chilling escalation, two rounds of gunfire were also reported at the scene before the attackers fled.

​Just hours after the shocking incident, the investigation took a swift turn. Six individuals, including the alleged mastermind Chandan Singh, surrendered to the police at the Shahnazgunj Police Station.

​The Shahnazgunj police promptly informed their counterparts at the Jawahar Nagar station, where the murder case had been registered.

Malkajgiri DCP Ch. Sridhar inspected the crime scene, and a full-scale investigation into both the motive and the exact sequence of events, including the use of firearms, is now underway.