Blast from the past: Caller drops name of convict serving time for twin-murder, warns of eliminating victim's familyTwelve years after the brutal murder of a mother and her four-year-old daughter at their residence in Bashyam Circle by her relative's employees, the brother-in-law of the deceased woman (Priya Devi) has got a ransom call to pay Rs 50 lakh from the 'associates' of the two killers who are lodged in Parappana Agrahara central prison. "Pay ransom or else get killed," was the chilling message received by Goutham Chand, businessman and brother of Hitendra Kumar, the husband of late Priya Devi. Goutham has now sought police protection.
Hitendra Kumar's wife Priya Devi and her daughter Neha were brutally murdered at their residence in Rajajinagar Vth block by two men on January 31, 2002. At that time, it was one of the most sensational murders the city had witnessed. The convicts had even physically abused the woman before killing her.
The then city police commissioner, HT Sangliana, had formed a special team led by police inspector Abdul Azeem to solve the case. Azeem, who was dubbed as 'Sherlock Holmes' for his investigative skills, managed to arrest the killers Ambaram and Deeparam, who hailed from Kesavana village of Jalore district in Rajasthan. The killer duo had earlier worked in the Chickpet shop of Hitendra Kumar's elder brother Parasmal. As they wanted to become rich overnight, they killed the woman and her daughter and had escaped with cash and gold ornaments worth Rs 1 lakh. Following a trial, the sessions court slapped the duo with the death penalty. They moved the High Court, and got it reduced to life sentence, which they are undergoing at Parappana Agrahara.
"I received a call to my mobile number from a landline number on July 1 and the person who called me claimed he was calling on behalf of the convict Ambaram and demanded Rs 50 lakh ransom amount. Else, he has threatened to eliminate the remaining family members. I presume that it is the handiwork of the convicts who are in jail and at whose instance the person who's working for them has called me," Goutham Chand said. "We are yet to recover from the gruesome twin-murder and the threat call has increased our fear. It would be difficult for me to live peacefully without police protection as the threat is serious in nature. I have reported the matter to senior police officers," he added.
An officer from Chickpet sub-division said: "The complainant has given us the details of the landline number from which the threat calls were made. It is not clear if the caller is an associate of the two convicts who are presently lodged in Parappana Agrahara. It is said that the victim received the call while he was at his electricals shop on U M Lane in Chickpet. The investigation is being supervised by DCP West Labu Ram."
