2 Class X students held for murder of their school principal in Telangana

NALGONDA: Police in Telangana  apprehended two juveniles (students of Class X) for the alleged brutal murder of their school principal from Nalgonda.

The police zeroed in on the juveniles after sifting through a pool of 80 people, including history-sheeters, Nalgonda Superintendent of Police Sharat Chandra Pawar said.

The victim, Rupa Reddy was the principal of Nagarjuna Public School in JB Colony, Kondamallepalli Mandal Centre in Nalgonda District. She resided in JB Colony with her husband Rajender Reddy. Rupa’s son Abhinav studies engineering in Hyderabad and the couple often went to the state capital to visit him.

Rupa had been to Hyderabad with her husband as she had three consecutive days of holidays recently. As her husband had some work in Hyderabad, he stayed back while Rupa returned to Kondamallepalli alone on the morning of August 11.

The SP said the two students had planned to rob Rupa and they had planned the details five days earlier. “The accused had assumed that Rupa would have cash in her house as it was the time when school fees are collected from the students,” he said.

However, as the accused barged into Rupa’s residence, she recognized them following which they stabbed her 27 times and fled with whatever cash was kept in the house and a cellphone.

The murder caused a sensation in Nalgonda and five police teams were formed to crack it. The teams tried to ascertain whether the assailants were habitual offenders and during the process examined footages from around 70 CCTV cameras installed in the area. Pawar said the school was closed for four days after the murder.

“The teams inquired about the 13 students who had not been to school after it reopened. There were five students of Class X among them. It was reported that two of them were leading a lavish lifestyle lately. When they were detained and questioned, the matter came to light. Around Rs. 1.54 lakh in cash and an iPhone were seized from one of the accused. When the blood stains on the currency notes seized from them were observed and sent to the lab, it was found to be that of a human being,” he said.

“One of the accused stayed in the school hostel. Earlier, when some money and a cellphone were found in his bag, Rupa and other school teachers reprimanded him and made him vacate the hostel. At that time, he was reprimanded in front of his parents due to which he developed a grudge against the principal,” Pawar said.

He said the accused are fond of alcohol and bikes. “They went on a trip to Goa a month ago. In the hope of earning money somehow, they had planned to rob Rupa Reddy’s house five days in advance. They examined the nearby CCTV cameras and timed the robbery,” the SP said.

“On August 11, after returning from school, both the accused went to the principal’s house together. One of them, wearing a mask, jumped over the wall and went inside. But in the process, the mask came off and the principal recognized her following which he killed her. Since the accused are minors, we will send them to the Juvenile Justice Board,” Pawar said.

The juveniles had discarded the knife, gloves, masks and a cellphone in the bushes near the principal’s residence. They also discarded the hoodie and changed into fresh clothes before fleeing.