Wanaparthy police crack A.P. jeweller’s murder; four in custody

Gold ornaments weighing 780 grams and silver jewellery of over seven kilograms along with ₹6.53 lakh were recovered from the four accused.

A case of suspicious death reported at Chinnambavi of Wanaparthy district turned out to be a murder for gain with the arrest of a jewellery shop owner from neighbouring Nagarkurnool district and three of his associates who had flown in from Rajasthan to execute the crime. 

Gold ornaments weighing 780 grams and silver jewellery of over seven kilograms along with ₹6.53 lakh were recovered from the four accused — Deepak Mali (24), Ramesh Mali (22), Jagish Bharwad (26), and Mukesh Meghwal (27). Sharing details of the sensational murder for gain case, Wanaparthy Superintendent of Police Ravula Giridhar said the Chinnambavi police found the body of an unidentified man in early stages of decomposition on the evening of November 23. 

The victim was identified as Avvaru Sheshu of Atmakur in Mangalagiri of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, after his family called up police on seeing photos being circulated on social media. Sheshu, a jewellery maker, supplied gold and silver ornaments to shops in A.P. and Telangana. His wife told investigators that he had left home on November 21. She, however, did not suspect any foul play as he used to go on business trips for three to four days. 

“The first clue came in the form of an input from the victim’s wife who said that Sheshu called her last on November 21 and said he was at Bijinepally of Nagarkurnool district,” the SP explained. Special teams rushed to Bijinepally and met Deepak Mali, owner of a jewellery shop which the victim frequently visited. 

Mali feigned innocence about the murder of Sheshu. “We started analysing footage of the surveillance cameras around Deepak’s shop,” the SP narrated. In one of the video clips, Mali was seen coming out of his shop soon after Sheshu left. In other video clips, Mali was seen following Sheshu without arousing the latter’s suspicion. 

Mali was taken into custody. After claiming innocence for some time, the jeweller finally admitted to the murder and gave details of the three others involved. Based on his confession, the police raided a place where the remaining accused were hiding.

Police said Mali was neck deep in debt, having suffered losses in business. He was thinking of means to wriggle out of the finance mess when he set his eyes on Sheshu who used to visit his shop all alone carrying huge quantities of gold jewellery and cash.