Pocharam, Telangana – October 14: A 48-year-old driver, Ch Venkanna, was beaten to death by his distant relatives, Vivek and Mallesh, over the alleged theft of a cell phone, police said. The Pocharam police arrested the duo and sent them to judicial remand on Friday.
Venkanna worked as a driver at a brick manufacturing unit in Ghatkesar, while the accused — Vivek and Mallesh — are auto drivers and relatives of the victim from Pocharam.
According to investigators, Venkanna had allegedly stolen Vivek’s mobile phone during a visit to his house on the night of October 7. The next morning, Vivek learned from an acquaintance that Venkanna tried to sell a phone for Rs1,000, raising suspicions.
Determined to retrieve the phone, Vivek and Mallesh searched for Venkanna and found him at around 2:30 PM on October 8. They confronted and assaulted him on the street, demanding the phone’s whereabouts.
Venkanna took them to a mobile repair shop in Jodimetla, where he had left the phone for a screen replacement. Though Vivek recovered the device, he found a gold mortgage receipt that had been kept in the phone cover was missing.
They then took Venkanna to Vivek’s home to question him further.
Despite Venkanna claiming ignorance about the receipt, the duo beat him with a stick until he collapsed outside the house. Local residents alerted his wife, Hemalatha, who rushed him to Ghatkesar government hospital, where he was declared dead.
