Hyderabad: Two realtors shot dead on city outskirts

Ibrahimpatnam: The city police swung into action as the real estate mafia is gaining its foothold with the two recent incidents that occurred on the city outskirts.

In the first incident that took place at Karmanguda village, Ibrahimpatnam, two realtors Srinivas Reddy and Raghavender Reddy were killed when unidentified men shot the duo as they were returning to their home after doing land leveling works at the site. When Raghavender Reddy was about to start the car, some unidentified men came to the spot and first shot Srinivas Reddy from a close range, who was beside Raghavender. Srinivas succumbed to the injury on the spot, and witnessing the scene, Raghavender tried to run away by speeding the vehicle. However, he was chased by the assailants.

When the vehicle crashed into a nearby pole, the men then shot Raghavender and escaped. However, Raghavender was still alive, said the police. A passer-by who witnessed the incident found Raghavender lying in a pool of blood and immediately alerted the police. Raghavender reportedly informed the passer-by that he and his friend were shot by unknown men. The police then arrived at the spot and began investigating. Raghavender was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, but he succumbed while undergoing treatment.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat visited the spot and instructed the police officers to complete the investigation at the earliest. The bodies of the realtors were shifted to the mortuary for post-mortem and were later handed over to their families.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the murder could have happened due to land dispute as the deceased duo had recently purchased 20 acres of land at the Karnamguda village and were developing the project in partnership.

Meanwhile, in the second incident that took place at Rampally, Keesara some unknown miscreants entered a local land venture and burnt trees in the venture. They also damaged the compound wall and had also misplaced the plotting stones. The original landowners had appealed to the Rachakonda police to protect their land from the land mafia.

Mahesh Bhagwat said, "We have instructed the concerned DCP and ACP of Keesara to take strict action against the miscreants, and there is no connection between the Ibrahimpatnam and Keesara case. We have also formed special teams to take stern action against the miscreants in Ibrahimpatnam case and very soon we will nab the accused."