Students detained for murder of Nalgonda school principal

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Nalgonda SP Sharat Chandra Pawar holding a press conference over the case on Wednesday.

A single word uttered by school principal Kallu Rupareddy shortly before her phone went silent became the unlikely breakthrough in the murder investigation that led Nalgonda police to suspect two of her students.

Ms. Rupareddy, principal of Nagarjuna Grammar Concept School in Kondamallepally, was murdered at her house on August 11. She was found with 27 stab wounds at her house in JB Colony, the mandal headquarters. She lived with her husband, Rajender Reddy, who was in Hyderabad on work when the incident occurred.

District SP Sharath Chandra Pawar constituted five special teams, comprising around 40 police personnel, and ordered a scientific investigation into the case. Investigators examined forensic evidence, fingerprints, dog squad reports, CCTV footage, technical data and the movements of suspects. More than 80 people were questioned and footage from around 70 CCTV cameras covering an area within a 30-km radius was examined.

Shortly before her murder, Ms. Rupareddy was speaking to her aunt over the phone and uttered the word ‘Babu’ before the phone was switched off. Police later learnt that she habitually addressed students at her school as ‘Babu’, prompting investigators to turn their attention to students.

The school had remained closed for six days following the principal’s death. Once it reopened, police questioned students individually and kept a watch on some who had remained absent for two days. Five students who had recently displayed signs of a sudden change in lifestyle came under particular scrutiny.

Investigators subsequently matched CCTV footage from the crime scene with the suspected students and gathered information about their movements. On Wednesday, police intercepted two 16-year-old students near Doniyala ‘X’ Road at around 11.30 a.m. as they were travelling by bike from Pendlipakala ‘X’ Road towards Mallepalli.

“A search led to ₹1.54 lakh being found concealed in their undergarments. Three of the ₹500 notes had bloodstains. When questioned about the money, the two allegedly confessed to killing Ms. Rupareddy and stealing cash from her house,” said the SP.

The officer explained that the two juveniles were students of the same school and shared a hostel room.

They allegedly browsed social media and YouTube for ways to make quick money. They purchased an iPhone worth ₹60,000 with the stolen money and the rest was spent on miscellaneous things.

The principal had caught them with mobiles and some unaccounted cash in the hostel the previous month and reprimanded them in the presence of their parents, police said. The two allegedly held a grudge against her and later decided to target her, believing she kept a large amount of cash at home.

Police said the duo conducted reconnaissance around the house for a week and researched ways to carry out the murder without leaving a digital trail. On Tuesday, one of them allegedly went home from school to collect a red hoodie and trousers.