Property dispute results in three deaths in Andhra Pradesh

Vetlapalem: Three members of a family were allegedly hacked to death in this village in Kakinada district on Sunday night over a dispute involving the construction of a house, a police official said on Monday.

District superintendent of police (SP) Vikrant Patil said K Prakash Rao (53), K Chandra Rao (60), and K Yesu Babu (48) were allegedly killed, while four others sustained injuries in the attack.

“There was a dispute over the land where the victims were constructing a house. They were about to lay a concrete slab when the accused attacked them at the site,” Patil told PTI.

According to the SP, around 15 people reportedly carried out the attack, leaving one person dead on the spot and two others succumbing to injuries in the hospital.

Police identified the attackers as B Zechariah, B Moshe, Appanna, Dorayya and others, on the run now.

Patil noted that both the deceased and the attackers belonged to different families, and the dispute began after the victims were accused of encroaching on a community pond to build the house.

Further, police observed that the attackers had allegedly feared losing their one-upmanship in the village as the victims were on the verge of building a large house, which ultimately led to the bloody skirmish.

Police have beefed up security in the village and are actively searching for the accused. A murder case has been registered, and an investigation is underway.