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Andhra Pradesh: Serial killer Vellanki Simhadri is not a psycho but is criminally intelligent

Hyderabad: Vellanki Simhadri alias Siva (38) , who is believed to have killed at least ten people including three women in a span of 20 months, was produced before a local court in West Godavari on Wednesday. The police have applied for his custody for two weeks for further questioning.

It may be mentioned that Simhadri was formally arrested on Tuesday by the West Godavari district police.

He killed all the ten people, including two of his relatives, by giving them prasadam mixed with cyanide.

His criminal intelligence stunned the investigators. "He managed to leave no clue in any case. All the bereaved families believed that their kin had died of stroke or naturally. Simhadri wisely selected cyanide for his operation as it works instantly and does not give any suspicion," West Godavari district superintendent of police Navdeep Singh Grewal told Mirror.

"He was not a psycho. He was very intelligent in executing his criminal plans," the SP added. He kept his operation so confidential that even his family members did not know. But, they were enjoying the money he was bringing, claiming to have earned from real estate brokerage or other sources. He bought land and built a house on it two months ago.

The last case on October 16, that helped the police to zero in on him, was through the technical evidence such as CCTV footage but, not his modus of operandi.

The police have interacted with families of some of the victims of Simhadri and are on the process of meeting the others. Of the ten killed by him, six were cremated and four were buried. The police may seek permission for exhuming those bodies for further postmortem. "We hope to get some clues through DNA tests," Navdeep said. The police suspect that Simhadri might have killed some more people.

When nabbed by the police, Simhadri was in procession of ten grams of cyanide. "A pinch is enough to kill one. We need to know his plans," the SP said.

Simhadri, according to the SP, befriends people luring them with easy money through treasure hunt, semi-precious stones and rice pulling coins. He patiently waits till winning their confidence over a period of months and then proceeds with the plan to eliminate them to make away with their cash and valuables.

Simhadri is a washerman by caste. After incurring huge losses in real estate business, he took to this criminal path for easy money. He began the operation in February 2018. His victims were from West Godavari, Krishna and East Godavari districts.

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