Love triangle: Junior film artist murdered in Hyderabad

Hyderabad : In a case of love triangle, a junior film artist was brutally murdered by a YouTuber along with his friends in Hyderabad.

K. Karthik (18), who was missing since August 13, was stabbed to death by Toleti Sai and his three accomplices in a forest area on the outskirts of the city. The assailants also crushed his head with stones.

Jubilee Hills police, which had registered a missing case on August 16 on a complaint by Karthik’s brother, took up the investigation. However, the breakthrough came two days ago after K. Suresh, one of the accused who was keeping the victim's mobile phone with himself, inadvertently switched it on.

Police picked up Suresh and started questioning, which unearthed the crime. Police reached the crime scene on Old Airport Road Bowenpally and found the skeletal remains of the victim.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Joel Davis said the skeletal remains were sent for forensic analysis.

Acting on the information gathered during the questioning of Suresh, police arrested main accused Tolesti Sai (20) and his two other accomplices M. Raghu (19) and Jagadish (20). Sai, a YouTuber, and three other accused hail from Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh.

Police investigations revealed that Sai was in a relationship with a girl, a junior artist. However, due to some differences, the woman had distanced herself. Recently, she came closer to Karthik, a junior film artist hailing from Mahabubabad district of Telangana and they fell in love. Sai was jealous over their relationship and hatched a plot to kill Karthik.

According to police on August 13, Sai told Karthik that he has some belongings of the girl and asked him to collect the same. An unsuspecting Karthik went with Sai and his friends. They took him to a desolate area in Bowenpally. Sai and three others attacked Karthik, tied him to a tree and stabbed him. Not stopping at that, they crushed his head with stones.

After making sure that Karthik is not alive, they left the spot. Suresh kept Karthik's mobile phone with himself. While Sai, Raghu and Jagadish went to their native places, Suresh stayed in the city. Two days ago Suresh switched on the mobile which alerted the police and the lead helped them crack the case.