Swathi Insisted On Killing Her Husband While I Wanted To Elope: Rajesh 

Nagarkurnool: Rajesh, the prime accused in the sensational Sudhakar Reddy murder case, said that he joined her in the gruesome act only at the insistence of Swathi, wife of the deceased. While Swathi has already been arrested, Rajesh was taken into custody from Apollo hospital after the doctors certified him fit to be discharged on Thursday.

When produced before media by the Nagarkurnool DSP Laxminarayana on Friday, Rajesh said that he had suggested to Swathi that they elope, instead of murdering Sudhakar Reddy. Swathi , however, insisted that they get rid of Sudhakar Reddy because she was attached to her parents as well as her children. She was afraid that she would lose her children if she ran away with Rajesh.
After the murder of Sudhakar Reddy, Swathi scalded Rajesh with acid first but as the burns were not convincing enough, she asked him to put his face on a burning
stove for more burns to conceal his identity.

Swati also assured him that she would bear all the expenses of the plastic surgery treatment which could cost upwards of Rs25 to 30 lakhs. Rajesh was earning a meager Rs5000-6000 per month as a private employee.

Rajesh said he had been in a relationship with Swathi for over two years. When asked whether they were inspired by any movie, he replied in the negative and insisted that the entire plan from killing Sudhakar Reddy to trying to mask Rajesh's identity was hatched by Swathi.

Narrating the timeline of the incident, DSP Laxminarayana said Swathi first called Arvind Reddy, Sudhakar Reddy's cousin and sought his help in taking her 'husband' for treatment. She wanted to ensure that Arvind was convinced that Sudhakar Reddy had suffered serious burn injuries. At first, they took Rajesh, who was passed off as Sudhakar Reddy to a private hospital and later to a government hospital for further treatment.

After seeing Rajesh's face, Sudhakar Reddy's mother and brother grew suspicious about his identity. During the course of treatment, Rajesh refused to take mutton soup supplied by the hospital staff and that proved his impersonation beyond all doubt. They lodged a complaint with the police, following which the cops interrogated Swathi who spilled the beans, the DSP said.

Describing the events leading to Sudhakar Reddy's murder and how Swathi and Rajesh plotted in a cold blooded manner to get rid of him, Laxminarayana said Rajesh procured the anesthetic drug administered in an injection from a pharmacist friend, Naresh. During investigation, Naresh said that Rajesh approached him saying
that he required the drug for his father who suffered from sleeplessness. The drug was procured over two months ago.

Laxminarayana said that an iron rod, syringe, a dupatta and a spade were among some of the items used to commit the offence that were seized. Further investigations were ongoing in the case.

As part of the investigation, a police team took Swathi and Rajesh to Nawabpet forest area to reconstruct the crime scene.