Telangana police crack mystery behind nine bodies found in a well

Main accused Sanjay Kumar Jha from Bihar and three others have confessed to killing the nine, all migrants from West Bengal, Bihar and Tripura.

They allegedly gave soft drinks laced with sedatives to the victims and threw them in the well.

Police sources said the accused were likely to be produced before media on Monday.

Bodies of Mohammed Maqsood Alam and four members of family were recovered from the well at Gorrekunta village near Warangal town on Thursday. The next day bodies of two more family members of Maqsood and two men from Bihar and one from Tripura were also found in the same well.

The dead were identified as Maqsood (55), a native of West Bengal working in gunny bag manufacturing unit in Warangal for last 20 years, his wife Nisha (48), daughter Bushra Khatoon (22), sons Shabaaz Alam (20), Sohail Alam (18) and Bushra's three-year-old son.

The bodies of Sriram Kumar Shah (26), Shyam Kumar Shah (21), both natives of Bihar and Mohammed Shakeel (40) of Tripura were also recovered from the well. They were all workers in the same gunny bag manufacturing unit.

Sanjay Kumar, also a worker in a gunny bag unit, allegedly was in relationship with Bushra, who had left her husband and was staying with her parents.

The main accused bore grudge against Maqsood's family as the relationship was stopped recently. Since two Bihari youth and another man from Tripura had moved closely to Maqsood's family, he planned to eliminate all with the help of two friends from Bihar and a local youth, who also had some grudge against the family.

They hatched a plan and executed it when Maqsood hosted a party at his house on the occasion of his son's birthday. They served soft drinks laced with sedatives to the victims and then dumped the bodies in a nearby open well.

Multiples teams formed by Warangal police made hectic efforts to gather evidence in the sensational case, which was proving to be a challenge for the investigators.

Bodies of all nine preserved after autopsy at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital (MGH) at Warangal.

The district officials said if nobody comes forward to claim the bodies, they will arrange the last rites.