In an effort to mislead the investigation, the accused had earlier claimed he had dumped the victim's remains in Meerpet lake, sending police on futile searches with sniffer dogs. However, police noticed inconsistencies in the confession statements, leading to further investigation.
Published Jan 29, 2025 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 29, 2025 | 7:00 AM
The Rachakonda Police solved the infamous cooker murder case
Rachakonda police on Tuesday, 28 January, arrested Putta Guru Murthy (39), an ex-serviceman, for allegedly murdering his wife and attempting to mislead investigators with false claims about disposing of her remains in Hyderabad’s Meerpet lake.
Police say Guru Murthy killed Putta Venkata Madhavi (35) in their Jillelaguda home on 16 January. The case had earlier drawn public attention for the gruesome nature of the murder.
Rachakonda Commissioner of Police G Sudheer Babu supervised the arrest. The accused has been charged under Section 103(1) (Punishment for murder), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence), and 85 (cruelty towards women) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The case first came to light when Kuppala Subbamma (50) reported her daughter Madhavi missing. She told police her daughter had reportedly left home following a quarrel with Guru Murthy on 16 January. Despite searching the area, they found no trace of Madhavi.
Guru Murthy initially aided the investigation, accompanying Madhavi’s family to file the missing person complaint on 18 January and helping with search efforts. When police later questioned him following suspicions, he confessed to the murder.
According to police, on 16 January around 8 a.m., an argument led to Guru Murthy slapping Madhavi, causing her to hit the wall and fall. He then strangled her to death.
In an effort to mislead the investigation, he first claimed he had dumped her remains in Meerpet lake, sending police on futile searches with sniffer dogs. However, Meerpet Sub-Inspector K Sudhakar noticed inconsistencies in the confession statements, leading to further investigation.
CCTV footage from the couple’s New Venkateshwara Colony residence showed them returning home around 11:41 p.m. on 15 January after celebrating Sankranti at Guru Murthy’s sister’s house in Badangpet, where they had left their children. But police found no footage showing Madhavi leaving home afterwards.
Guru Murthy spent between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. methodically destroying evidence at home. He dismembered Madhavi’s body in their bathroom, boiled the parts, and burnt them on their gas hob. He then crushed the burnt remains with a stone roller and flushed them down the toilet, following which he cleaned the house with detergent and phenyl.
Police have altered the case from a missing person complaint to a murder investigation, seizing evidence, including the hob, knife, roller, bucket, water heater, cleaning materials and the victim’s clothes from the house.
The investigation team, led by DCP LB Nagar Zone Ch Praveen Kumar and Additional DCP B Koteshwara Rao, continues to gather evidence. More details are awaited.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
