Hyderabad: The Cyberabad police on Thursday claimed to have cracked three murder cases with the arrest of a “serial killer” here.
The accused Byagari Praveen, a 34-year-old resident of Laxmiguda in Mailardevpally killed two footpath dwellers in different places on the intervening night of June 20 and 21, while another person was killed on the intervening night of June 7 and 8 under Mailardevpally police station limits, a release from Cyberabad Police Commissionerate said.
According to Rajendranagar deputy commissioner of police Jagadeshwar Reddy, Praveen went near Swapna theatre Katedan and found a person sleeping near the Kajaria tiles shop.
“He hurled a boulder at the victim’s head and killed him before walking away. Praveen then went to Durganagar crossroads located a kilometre away and found another person asleep. He killed him in the same way and took some money found in the victim’s pocket,” said the DCP.
On June 7, Praveen bludgeoned his third victim who was asleep at the Netajinagar and took away cash, said the DCP.
Following the murders, special teams were formed by the Cyberabad police who finally cracked him down. He admitted to killing people for Rs. 50 or Rs. 100.
Praveen was arrested with the help of CCTV footages from the locality where the crime occurred.
The accused is a habitual offender and was involved in eight cases. He was arrested in 2011 and then again in 2014 when he was sentenced to life imprisonment, but later acquitted. He was also involved in two burglaries reported in 2010 and two snatching cases reported in 2011.
After being released from jail, he began committing murders for gain, the DCP said.
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