The accused, Praveen, had been imprisoned in a rape-and-murder case, but was released following a court order in November 2022.
Published Jun 23, 2023 | 6:22 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 23, 2023 | 6:22 PM
Police briefing the media on the case. (Supplied)
Hyderabad’s “Stoneman” was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days on Friday, 23 June, a day after he was arrested for murdering three pavement dwellers.
A local court in Hyderabad remanded Byagari Praveen, 34, in judicial custody after the police did not seek his custody.
Praveen, released after being sentenced to life in a rape-and-murder case, allegedly smashed the heads of victims with stones for gain, the police said.
Investigators said the accused, hailing from Rangareddy and living in Hyderabad’s Rajendra Nagar area, slept close to his victims before killing them while they were asleep. All three murders were committed within a fortnight in June.
Convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in a 2014 rape-and-murder case, Praveen was freed in November last year based on a court directive.
The police said he was acquitted in at least two cases of murder in 2014. He had then killed his victims in a similar fashion — smashing their heads with large stones.
Praveen, a labourer, committed two of the latest killings in the Mailardevpally police station limits and one murder on the intervening night of 7 and 8 June, investigators said. He stole cash from the victims after they were killed.
The police said Praveen followed the same modus operandi in all the three alleged murders. None of the three victims have been identified as yet.
After keeping a watch on the homeless people, he closed in on his possible victims to confirm whether they had fallen asleep. He would lie down next to them for some time, and after confirming that they had gone to sleep, smashed their heads with large stones.
Praveen would then search the deceased for valuables or cash.
The first murder was allegedly committed on the intervening night of 7 and 8 June. The police said Praveen noticed a person sleeping beside a railway track in Netaji Nagar. He reportedly smashed his head with a stone and stole cash from him.
The police added that he hunted again on the intervening night of 20 and 21 June and killed two pavement dwellers.
The first victim was aged 35-40 years and was sleeping near Swapna Theatre at Kathedan, the police said.
Roaming around near the Swapna Theatre Main Road, he noticed a person sleeping on the steps of a shop, the police said in their statement.
In the second murder, Praveen found his victim sleeping under a mosquito net in front of a makeshift shed.
“Adapting the same modus operandi, he went near the person, slept there for some time, and smashed his head and body with a stone before fleeing with cash,” Mailardevpally Station House Officer P Madhu told South First.
The Mailardevpally police booked him under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 201 (concealing or destroying evidence or giving false information), and 379 (commit theft forcefully).
The police would be invoking the Preventive Detention (PD) Act against him. The Act mandates keeping notorious offenders in jail for one year.
Praveen had eight cases against him earlier: Two murders, a rape-and-murder, burglary, robbery, and two charges of mugging.
In one of these cases, Praveen and two others raped a woman at Rajender Nagar, slit her throat, and then fled with her belongings. Praveen was sentenced to life imprisonment in the case.
However, the police said he was released in November 2022 following a court order.
“We are collecting the details regarding his previous conviction and the reason why the high court had ordered his release,” Madhu said.
He was acquitted in the two murder cases, and received a maximum sentence of two years along with fines imposed on him — ₹1,000 — in the five other cases.
The ‘Stoneman’ was the name given by the media to an unidentified killer, who had murdered at least 13 sleeping pavement dwellers in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1989.
Another unidentified man, who committed 26 similar murders in Mumbai between 1985 and 1988, too, was given the same name. Guwahati in Assam, too, reported similar incidents in February 2009.
A film was also made based on the Mumbai incidents in 2009. Written and directed by Manish Gupta, the film has Kay Kay Menon and Arbaaz Khan in lead roles.
