Sudhakar Reddy Murder: Paramour Just Wanted To Elope

As part of the investigation into the highly unusual Sudhakar Reddy murder case where the paramour Ajjakolu Rajesh Reddy sought to pass himself off as the murdered husband by disfiguring his own face, the police team took the accused Swathi and Rajesh to the Nawabpet forest area to reconstruct the crime scene.

While Swathi was arrested the moment the crime came to light, Rajesh was taken into custody from Apollo Hospital after the doctors certified him fit to be discharged on Thursday.

Rajesh, a physiotherapist, told the interrogators that he had joined 34-year-old Swathi Reddy in the gruesome act only at her insistence. When produced before the media by Nagarkurnool DSP Laxminarayana on Friday, Rajesh confessed that he had had a physical relationship with Swathi for over two years. He said that he had suggested to Swathi that they just elope instead of killing Sudhakar Reddy. However, she insisted that they get rid of Sudhakar Reddy because she was attached to her parents and her children, and did not want to leave them.

He claimed that Swathi had hatched the plan from killing Sudhakar Reddy to trying to mask her paramour's identity. After first sedating and then bludgeoning Sudhakar Reddy to death and disposing of the body, Swathi injured Rajesh with acid first, but as the burns were not convincing enough, she asked him to put his face on a burning stove for more burns to conceal his identity. She also assured him that she would bear all the expenses of the plastic surgery treatment which could cost Rs 25 to 30 lakhs.

She then first called Sudhakar Reddy's cousin Arvind Reddy and sought his help in taking her "husband" for treatment. She wanted to ensure that Arvind was convinced that Sudhakar Reddy had suffered serious burns. At first, they took Rajesh, being passed off as Sudhakar Reddy, to a private hospital, and later to a government hospital for further treatment.

However, after seeing Rajesh's face, Sudhakar Reddy's mother and brother grew suspicious about his identity. And during the treatment, when Rajesh refused to take mutton soup supplied by the hospital saying he was vegetarian, their suspicions were confirmed. They lodged a complaint with the police, following which the cops interrogated Swathi who spilled the beans, the DSP said.

Laxminarayana said that an iron rod, a syringe, a dupatta and a spade were among some of the items used to commit the offence that were seized. Further investigations are going on in the case.