Vikarabad Police Arrest Three for Murdering Two Elderly Women Over Unpaid Debts

The Telangana Police have arrested a couple and their accomplice in Vikarabad district for the alleged murder of two elderly women from Tandur town and surrounding villages to whom they owed money. The suspects, identified as Karima Begum, 43, her partner Abdul Rehman, and her cousin Abdul Nayeem, were arrested following an investigation into the disappearances of Mahbub Begum, 65, and Abida Begum, 60. Police officials stated that the suspects allegedly planned to kill several other creditors to evade their debts.

The victims, both widows living alone, belonged to Kokat and Khasimpur villages in Vikarabad. Abida, who worked as an anganwadi attendant in Tandur town, had lent Rs 70,000 to Karima over time. Mahbub, who lived on a state senior citizen's pension, had lent Karima Rs 40,000. Investigators believe Karima befriended the vulnerable women specifically to borrow money, later dodging their calls and avoiding them when they demanded repayment.

The plot unfolded between March 27 and May 15. Mahbub went missing on March 27, leading to a complaint at the Yalal Police Station on March 31. Abida disappeared on May 5, with a missing complaint filed at the Basheerabad Police Station on May 9.

The breakthrough in the investigation came on May 15, when Circle Inspector Pravin Kumar Reddy and his team tracked a brief 10-second phone signal to a bus stop outside Tandur town. Although there were no CCTV cameras at the bus stop, police traced Abida's travel on a bus bound for the Tolkatta area in Moinabad. This led to the arrest of Karima, followed by Nayeem.

According to the police, Nayeem confessed to the murders during interrogation. He revealed that they had smothered both women to death and buried their bodies in shallow graves near a farmhouse in Tolkatta. Based on the confession, police exhumed the bodies and sent them for a postmortem examination.

The suspects allegedly panicked when the victims threatened to file police complaints. They scouted a deserted forested area in Tolkatta, switched off their mobile location services, and took routes with minimal CCTV coverage. Karima lured both victims separately by claiming a relative in Moinabad would repay the debts in person, instructing them to travel in secret to avoid other creditors finding out.

Circle Inspector Reddy stated that Abdul and Nayeem confessed to intending to kill their other lenders using the same method. Following the arrests, eight other individuals approached the police, alleging that Karima and Abdul owed them up to Rs 50,000 each. Police are currently reviewing other missing persons complaints across the district to see if there are more victims.