For 63 hours, answers to six murders in a quiet farming village near Hyderabad rested with a man who had vanished. His phone was in airplane mode. Cameras showed him stepping onto railway tracks as a train neared, only to move aside at the final moment. A bus ticket to L.B. Nagar and 1,206 rupees in cash were later found with him. Three days afterward, his body was located 20 km from home next to a bottle of herbicide. The trail returned to Daivalaguda village in Shabad, roughly 50 km from Hyderabad, where serious crime had been rare until July 10. Between 10:30 p.m. and midnight, six people died in two homes six kilometres apart. The suspected killer, out on anticipatory bail in a child protection case linked to one victim, called his father at 11:50 p.m., admitted the killings and said he planned to take his own life. The victims included a 17-year-old girl, her mother and grandmother, plus the suspect’s wife and their two young sons. His disappearance and death have left police reviewing footage, a 13-minute video, forensic results and issues around the earlier case. With the only suspect deceased, many questions may remain unresolved. Residents wonder whether an arrest after the May 16 complaint, rather than bail on June 13, might have stopped the killings. Police continue to trace the suspect’s movements in those 63 hours. He left home at 10:30 p.m. on July 10 in a red car rented after pledging his motorcycle. The six deaths are believed to have occurred in the following hour. Investigators think he first went to the complainant’s house, killed the mother and grandmother, and took the girl around 11:10 p.m. He returned home at 11:22 p.m., left her in the car, and is thought to have killed his wife and sons before driving off ten minutes later. He then allegedly took the girl to a nearby lake and killed her. He abandoned the car near Thimmapur village, stepped onto tracks before retreating, and headed toward L.B. Nagar. Hours earlier, at 4:55 p.m., he recorded a 13-minute video claiming the girl had pursued him for a year and a half and that her family later demanded money while threatening jail. He said he sold two acres of land and paid part of the sum. He also mentioned tensions with his wife and worry about providing for his sons. He stated he planned to kill the girl, her mother and grandmother, then his own family before ending his life. Medical experts note that herbicide effects depend on the chemical, amount absorbed, speed of treatment and the person’s health. The substance can damage lungs and kidneys, with acute kidney failure a common cause of death in severe cases. Family members said the suspect drank alcohol, which can speed the poison’s action. Forensic staff caution that consuming an entire one-litre bottle is unlikely, as the body rejects much of the toxin through vomiting, though absorbed amounts can still cause organ damage.
