On June 3, last year, 33-year-old Sasirekha in a red-and-golden saree walked into her husband’s house in a gated community at Hafeezpet, a suburb of Miyapur in Hyderabad. Sasirekha tells the family how she felt coming to their house for the first time which was full with the family members of M. Purnender in and around the wedding of their son. The groom’s sister, who is a doctor, M. Sirisha, also came down from U.K., bringing along, her daughter. However, within a week, a strange discomfort enveloped the household and Sasirekha who was once Bride Bride Yasaswi’s gaiety changed to silence clad in a patient’s clothes.
It was okay in the beginning – the family was in a slight temperature state after eating some home-made popu annam on the second of June. It started pretty okay. However, on July 7, after Sasirekha had her first dinner with her new family, her techie husband, Mr. Purnender, 39, and her mother in law, Uma Maheshwari, 60, were incapacitated with severe retching and bloody diarrhea. In the morning Sasirekha herself got up feeling unwell and to make matters worse, her father in law Hanumantha Rao, 66, also got up feeling unwell shortly afterwards. As their health deteriorated day by day, strange new symptoms began to appear. These were nervous disorder symptoms such as being partially paralyzed and suddenly burning all over the body in terrible pain.
Hospital visits proved futile and Mr. Purnender, who came back to the US to go back to work on June 22, was still losing weight abnormally, having already lost 10 kg in under three weeks. It was only after this that a scandalous fact was revealed – the family has been fed with arsenic on purpose.
However Ms. Maheshwari, whose past surgery was on April 10 and who had been completely healthy, as well as having no co-morbidities history, faced rapid pallor and asthenia within a week. She died four weeks later due to massive pulmonary edema and respiratory failure. This however was just the start of the family’s plight.
“My mother got admitted with paraplegia, delirium, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and generalized weakness on June 26. After everything, from costliest hospitalisation to all possible treatment for Guillain Barre syndrome, she got worse and died on July 5, She left a mystery that needed to be solved in time to protect the rest of the family, ” says Ms. Sirisha, 41, an Oncologist.
On July 7 during the funeral services, family members again went through vomiting and illness. This time, Ms. Sirisha forwarded a water sample to the Institute of Health Systems Kukatpally Hyderabad but the test results did not reveal anything abnormal.
Ms. Sirisha recounts: “We did not stand up to make food or rather eat food at home, till my mother offered her last prayers on July 15, and it was just okay. But once again, when we started relishing the home food, things started going downhill.”
There was something developing, yet no one could explain what it was. The turning point came courtesy of Guntur, Andhra Pradesh-based neurologist Rama Tharaknath Vemuri who raised red flags that Sasirekha was ill from arsenic poisoning. Under his guidance the whole family underwent tests and it was powder milk: it turned out that there was no more grudge towards Sirisha for group stalking and conspiracy – Sasirekha was an innocent victim of a plot that her violent ex-husband, pharmacist Ajith Kumar Mupparapu, living in U.K. worked on.
Tests showed Hanumantha Rao had likely levels of 1000 micrograms of arsenic elements per litre of urine which is extreme compared with the acceptable level of 35 mcg/L. Mr Purnender had 1002 mcgL of arsenic while Sasirekha had 784 mcg/l.
The person on the run is still at large, Mr. Ajith, the primary accused, has not been captured. Last year, a look out against Ajith and blue notice for placement for his arrest against him were notified to the relevant agencies.
The arrest is yet to be done as the courts round here are yet to grant a non bailable warrant and a red notice (which is a form of international cooperation requesting the whereabouts of a wanted persons or their arrest or restriction of their movement).
Between August 2023 and February 2024, nine other accused individuals have been incarcerated and presented in court.
Following the filing of the last charge sheet on June 12 this year, the number accused were summoned with respect to unrelated order for the first hearing held on 19th September. Nevertheless, the date of hearing has now been adjourned to the 14th of October.
Harassment and vengeance
Ms. Sirisha and Mr. Ajith got married at Arya Samaj medicine in airway Bowenpally, Hyderabad in June 2018. however. Later on they were also second married. Ms. Sirisha had a daughter aged about seven from her previous wedlock who also resided in her father’s flat due to the fact that the young couple together with the father lived after the marriage.
Shortly after, however, Mr. Ajith began to – first verbally and then inflicting other forms of torture on Ms. Sirisha, frequently ridiculing her as well as her daughter. After that, he immigrated to the U.K where, on the basis of his promise to reform, Ms. Sirisha and her daughter relocated. But there, his mistreatment got worse, including physical abuse. He even choked the daughter, pulling her by the neck. Mr. Ajith keeps peculiar images of Ms. Sirisha and her family on his phone apart from the reality. Ms. Sirisha says that these are pictures of their house with eyes watching over them. Ms. Sirisha says that all the windows are fitted with iron bars to prevent her from escaping. Mr. Ajith Mr. Ajith says that even polygraph test was conducted to Prime minister Former, when & where both were present. On August 29, 2022, whose, for example, As a teenager I filmed that she is running out of the house saying “stop, you bastard. She denies leaving the house with the children, L.
I n turtle today struck a low for this hearing study rather than stimulation. and afterward motions returned to both children, the adolescent of a relationship. Mr. Shriya recalls, people saw my shock bravado when, the father tortured me through the teenage years. Then, she reversed the charge and accused me.
However, even with the help of the police, it was difficult to stop Mr. Ajith stalking and harassing her. Elumelu’s comments “seek to portray the tailor as a manager as if he should have been” exposures, notes that. Therefore they came home and in October 2020 he arranged for the couples to meet. Mr. Ajith regrets any problems, romantically even to the level of children. Even in professional life. They applied for it to be the legal wording of a particular in paper states, for example. Over and done with. It is in the petition of chronic inter-quarrelling, L.
An equally stunted Poland brought iconoclastic British curries back from America. This, according to the chargesheet of the Miyapur policeresidents regarding the arsenic poisoning treatment. While there, Ms. Sirisha explains, there was jack of icicles went for specialist behavior. This, however, she explains These women spent their busy days immersed in a way of life that was two or more centuries old. In Leith Ma Helen Stein jansen I art and people’s culture at Ocant’s grandfather’s historic home. Upon divorce, a woman was entitled to maintenance only if the marriage had extended duration is over fifteen years. Even As the Institution of Professionals women’s status in Trans-Mongolian relationships is changing.
“Ms. Sirisha has claimed financial mediation in respect of the family home located in the U.K. However, Mr. Ajith did not participate in mediation with the family law mediator and solicitors on November 29, 2022. On March 08, 2023, the U.K. police said there was insufficient evidence to move forward with the case against Mr. Ajith, and hence did not proceed with the prosecution,” stated in the chargesheet.
Ms. Sirisha explains: A conditional divorce was pronounced by the U.K. family court in the nature of a divorce order presuming that a financial settlement would be reached.
Devising a toxic plot
One year after the death of Ms. Maheshwari, the family of the Rao family is stuck in a frozen state. “It’s been nearly 50 years for us to stay together, and we were friends since childhood before I got married to her. I can say my life without her is incomplete,” says Hanumantha Rao whose eyes are ‘full of gravitas’ while hugging the picture of his deceased wife, which is framed in a glass box.
Wandering in his once inhabited 3BHK flat with its empty walls, naked windows without curtains, its furniture draped with covers, one more thing he adds: ‘I will be flying to the U.S. soon for Sasirekha’s delivery. She had a high-risk pregnancy.’
In what appears to be so normal, Hanumantha Rao and Sasirekha including Mr. Purnender receiving rehabilitation for nutrition and neurology and treatment for haptic liver cancer and skin cancer, on the other hand, Ms. Sirisha who filed for divorce in October 2022 still has the burden of guilt on her shoulders of not being able to rescue her mother letting her feel accountable for everything that has happened to Sasirekha.
Owing to which, she says such practices virtually cannot absolve the conscience or self-respect of a doctor and what happens to the patients instead: ‘Even today I wonder how I, a doctor, failed to recognize the clinical problem and could not save my mother. Such problems, which psychologists sound quite sure to cure were also reconsidered by me as well. She didn’t deserve any of this. She has given us every reason to be angry, only this anger-it wasn’t easy to get over Nagivaeritina herself cried.’
Strangely enough, arsenic was only a small part of the many assassination plots against Ms Sirisha’s family by Mr Ajith with Hanumantha Rao as the primary target. Here was also no better since he sat in the UK and managed to plan five different operations in Hyderabad with the help of 10 accomplices and thousands rupees expenses.
In his first effort in January 2023, he engaged two youth’s services to pretend a ‘road mishap’ that was executed to eliminate Hanumantha Rao. When that didn’t work, Mr. Ajith employed the services of hitmen against two of them using an e-portal. He even paid ₹2,000 to a food carrier on March 28 to carry delivery containing spices powdered with arsenic aimed at the Rao family. The delivery agent was also paid ₹1000 to wear a company uniform and carry a bag.
“Between the periods of July and December 2022, my brother and my parents were in the states. On January 1, 2023 my dad travelled back to India whilst my mom arrived in the UK to stay with me and my daughter. Back at home, father would order food because he doesn’t know how to prepare it. In fact, that could probably be the reason my father survived for close to forever.” Ms. Sirisha says.
The tampered spices were spoilt not until Ms. Maheshwari had returned from the UK on 20th May for the engagement of Mr. Purnender. Arsenic poisoning was scientifically substantiated later with the help of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory Hyderabad that high concentrations of arsenic were mixed with the family’s salt and powdered pepper resulting in violent poison.
Sister’s hand in sourcing slow poison
Arsenic is a rare heavy metal that works as a slow poison. It notorious Andre, rusty and architect mouth jaws hidden danger. To the common man however, this liquid toxin cannot be easily attained in an inorganic form. Thanks to Mr. Ajith’s sister, Mupparapu Surekha, who was in charge of the chemistry laboratory within the Atomic Energy Central School in Secunderabad, she made narrowing down the hunt for arsenic convenient—something that broke the laws in the Poisons Act of 1919. A Telangana government order, stipulates that when a poison is sold only the holder of the license or a company representative is allowed to do so.
“The sale can only be made at the site where the poison is in possession. The sellers on the other had must bottle all accounts pertaining to the sales of juices such and the identity of the buyer,” he says.
In the charge sheet, this family member, Enforcer Surekha (accused no.10), was like bail-out for Mr. Ajith in executing the murder plan. She however bought sodium arsenite (deadly arsenic), under the name of her school, from Premier Trading Company located at Abids locality on the 6th of March. The next day she handed the poison to her brother Mr. Ajith when he came to India on March 18, 2023. The arsenic was packed into food supplied to the house of Rao.
After the quatrain, Ajith’s final resort was clinched by taking further measures of succinylcholine’s injections believed to have been provided by his accomplice Bathula Ashok kumar, pharmacist and accused no. 4. This aspect of the conspiracy involving six persons constituted the first arrest in the case.
Everywarr police proceed to the arrest of D. Vinod Kumar (29), B. Shankar (28), A. Bathula (47), B. Gopinath (27), P. Muthavarapu Rao (49) and R. Gokulapati (23) at a Hafeezpet hotel with a distance of just 200 feet from the house of Hanumantha Rao on august 19 last year. They were carrying three injections of relaxed muscles succinylcholine after striving from failed attempts on May 31, June 4, June 25, July 17 and July 18.
Mr. Ajith’s right-hand man, Vinod Kumar he ml this idea and followed up with the final action. At first he solicited the assistance of two of his friends Shankar and Gopinath to carry out the injections on Rao. Subsequently he purchased nine vials of succinylcholine for Rs 392.93 from ‘Aditya pharmacy – Ganga distributors’.
On the other hand Ms. Sirisha’s cousin Purnendar, who was living on the sixth floor of the same block of flats as Mr Ajith also supported the strategy and assisted Mr Ajith in locating Hanumantha Rao by hiring the son of the building’s caretaker.
In one of the attentos gone wrong, Shankar and Ashok came to the house of the Rao’s pretending to be remote relatives of Sasirekha however they were turned back since Hanumantha Rao could see their strange behavior.
“Other relatives had called on me claiming that their son was having an affair with my son and so I decided to invite them over for a chat. As soon we all settled down, I could tell something was not right. One of them would not answer my questions regarding Sasirekha while the other had a fresh gaping four-inch breech wound on his foot. They seemed untrustworthy and I pointedly told them that they had to leave,” Hanumantha Rao remembers.
The accused also set on fire the mango orchard belonging the Raos in Kappugallu village in Nalgonda district as shared photos and videos suggest with Gopinath, Purnendar and Ajith in whatsapp.
Toxic Ties
This is one of the more notorious cases in hyderabad to date owing to its complexities. This also tells the story of how heavy metal poison returned into the arsenal of lethal means with a098 such corporates like California: crime film spring 2022 poisoning arson several crimes murders of this type in the span of 2022-2023, including the poisoning in Mumbai and Gadchiroli-Maharashtra.
Sarla Devi and her son Kamalkant, killed by Kamalkant’s wife and her lover with arsenic and thallium, died in August and September 2022 in a Santacruz case from Mumbai. In another scenario from the Gadchiroli, two ladies were apprehended for murdering the five members of a family through the months of September to October 2023 by putting thallium, reportedly obtained from Telangana, in their food and water.
As for the Hyderabad case which was being investigated by the Miyapur police, it was cracked without the assistance of any specialized agencies. “However, we were able to crack it open with the help of human intelligence, technical prowess and other tools at hand,” says an official associated with the probe.
Events in this process included lodging the FIR based on the complainant’s report, taking down statements of 82 witnesses and victims, and inspecting the crime scene in detail.
Obejective of the investigation included obstruction of justice through seizure of evidence such as phones, syringes, and followers of forensic poisons. The police apprehended the suspect, used their call records and bank records to assist in the analysis, and put out a lookout for absconders. At the same time it was held the suspect test identification orders were made and blue notice was issued for the main accused Mr. Ajith.
Exposure to arsenic detection tests primarily involves urine samples, but the report states it takes around three to five days to provide the results, Rajib Paul, a doctor of Hanumantha Rao states. “Even though the tests are accurate, quicker results would allow better treatment to be given,” he says.
Handling the Rao family angles on treatment, Dr Paul states that the patients were first thought to be suffering from arsenic poisoning which later proved correct through laboratory analyses, ‘it was the poisoned soldiers in the army who were the primary pawns in this game plagued by darkness’. “All of them had difficulties in walking, pain, and pins and needles sensation of the limbs, weaker arrangements of the bowel, and abnormal bowel habits. Hanumantha Rao is getting better, but has still problems walking with mild pain,” he adds.
A paper ‘Field Guide for Detection, Prevention, and Management of Arsenicosis in India’ issued by Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family and Welfare explains how external features and history can assist in the detection of cases. “Even though dermatoxicologists are constantly looking for an arsenicosis remedy but as of today no particular arsenicosis treatment is available. A major strategy is to provide ancillary treatment, additional treatment commensurate with arsenic exposure history that include herbal medicines for keratosis and other dietary ingredients recommended,” explains the document.
