Andhra Pradesh police solve Gururaju Rao murder via papad trace
Andhra Pradesh police have solved the murder of Gururaju Rao, a deaf and mute street vendor whose burnt body was found in Anantapur district on June 23.
The case was tricky because Rao couldn't be identified at first, but a partially burnt Kannada newspaper, burnt clothes, a sacred thread, and an appadam (papad) packet gave investigators their big break.
Tracing the packet's supply chain led them to confirm Rao's identity and piece together what happened.
Basavaraju and Kotresh accused of murder
Police discovered that two men, Basavaraju and Kotresh, targeted Rao believing he had saved up cash from his business.
They lured him away, killed him, and tried to cover it up by burning his body and stealing his belongings, including his ATM card.
CCTV footage caught one suspect withdrawing money from Rao's account while phone records linked the other.
Since both accused are also deaf and mute, sign language experts were brought in for questioning.