Shabad killer’s body found by roadside with a video confessing planned murders

Raj Kumar, accused of killing six people in Shabad mandal of Rangareddy district on Friday night, was found dead in a remote area of ​​Penjerla village near Kothur, about 20 kilometers from his home in Daivalaguda, police said on Monday. It is suspected that he consumed a herbal medicine that led to his death.

The body was found nearly 63 hours after the murders, ending an intense manhunt involving 13 police teams in Telangana.

A villager notified the police by calling 100 around 15:00 after noticing a body in an isolated area. Police later confirmed that the body belonged to the defendant, based on identification information and evidence obtained from the scene.

Future City Police Commissioner Tarun Joshi said investigators recovered several items from the body, which are currently being examined.

“We found some bus tickets on him. We need to check the evidence found on him and verify all this. We found a one-litre bottle of herbal medicine. Prima facie, it appears that he had consumed it and that could be the probable cause of death. We found ₹1,206 cash on him. His mobile phone was on airplane mode,” Mr. Joshi said.

The commissioner said investigators found a video the defendant recorded on his cell phone.

CP said, “We found a video in the photo gallery. According to the video, he did this at 16.55 on the day of the murders. He clearly says that he is fed up with everything, that he wants to kill them all and then kill himself. He also conveyed the same to his father.” In the recording, which has not yet been verified, the defendant claimed that the little girl’s family had threatened to implicate him in criminal cases if he did not comply with their demands; These allegations have not been independently verified by police.

Towards the end of the video, he explained that he decided to kill the girl, her mother, and her grandmother before killing her own family and taking her own life. He has repeatedly stated that his wife and children had no role in the dispute.

Police said the contents of the video would form part of the investigation, but stressed that the allegations made by the defendant would be independently verified.

Late on Friday night, six people were killed in two locations about six kilometers apart. Police said he first fatally attacked a minor girl, who had earlier filed a case against him under Sections 11 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (PoCSO) Act, along with her mother and grandmother, before returning home and allegedly killing his wife Sarita and their two minor sons, aged four and one-and-a-half years.

The investigating officer in the earlier case was later suspended pending investigation.

While the police stated that the autopsy examination will reveal the exact cause of death, they said that the forensic examination of the recovered materials, including the mobile phone and video, is continuing.