Old couple hacked to death in city

In an alarming incident, one more elderly couple staying alone was murdered at their residence in Ashok Colony in Old Kapra municipality here on Wednesday. This is one of the dozen such murders that have taken place in Cyberabad up to July this year wherein intruders had had targeted retired people living in the city outskirts without adequate security.

Kushaiguda police said that the latest victims, Mr D. Laxmana Murthi, 70, a retired Travel Ticket Examiner, and his wife, Mrs D. Krishnaveni, 65, stayed in an independent triple bedroom house. Their son, Mr D. Ram Babu, is a software engineer in Washington while their daughter, Ms Padmavathi, resides at Shivapur colony.

Early on Wednesday, their maid, Bhagyam, went to their house and found that the front door was open. She went in and saw the couple lying still on a double cot in a bedroom and raised an alarm. “The intruders killed Mrs Krishnaveni by smothering her with a pillow and strangled Mr Murthi,” said the sub-inspector, Mr Ramalinga Reddy.

Police found that the assailants stole a two tola gold chain from Mrs Krishnaveni after killing her. However, the gold and cash kept in the almirah were intact.

“Laxmana Murthi goes to her daughter’s house at 6.30 pm every day and gets dinner. However, on Tuesday he didn’t go to her daughter’s house. Their maid who went to their house at 6 pm found the door locked from the outside. So we suspect the murder might have taken place yesterday,” Mr Ramalinga Reddy said.