Old landline phone led to gruesome Vijayawada murder

AMARAVATI: In a sensational twist, an old-generation landline phone is believed to have led to the recent shocking murder of a railway employee's wife in Vijayawada. The police, who took into custody a colleague of the victim's husband, unearthed during interrogation that Sita (50) was murdered in the lust for this antique phone.

Even the police were shocked out of their wits when the accused confessed to the crime and spilled the beans on the real motive. The Vijayawada police suspect the involvement of a few other railway employees in the case due to their closeness with Satyanarayana, the victim's husband.

According to police, the accused who is currently in police custody and a few other railway staffers came to know of an old-generation landline phone that is with the Satyanarayana's family. They had been plotting for a while to wrest it at any cost because of its supposed high value in the international market.

It is reported that several gangs are on the prowl, scouting for antique pieces like old-time phones and television sets. They are believed to lure local people with good rewards running into lakhs of rupees if they bring in such antique pieces.

Driven by their greed to get hold of the land phone the accused, whose name was not yet revealed, along with a few others, went to Satyanarayana's house at a time when the latter was not present. What started as a demand at first led to a scuffle with Sita as they attempted to get hold of the landline phone. Seeing Sita resisting them stoutly, they eventually killed her. They decamped, not only with the antique phone, but even with cash and gold from the house.

The police were initially clueless in their trail for the culprits as there were no CCTV surveillance cameras in the vicinity. Taking it as a challenge, they tracked down the accused using the mobile phone call data. The lynchpin in the incident, a railway employee who is also a colleague of Satyanarayana, was arrested. Investigation is on amid suspicions that a few more railway staffers could be involved in the crime.