Marriage, mayhem and murder: Unraveling an arsenic poisoning conspiracy that tore apart a Hyderabad family

On June 3 last year, 33-year-old Sasirekha, draped in a red-and-golden saree, entered her in-laws’ home at a gated community in Hafeezpet, a suburban locality of Miyapur in Hyderabad. The Rao family, excited for the wedding of their son M. Purnender, had gathered friends and relatives for a joyous celebration. The groom’s doctor-sister, M. Sirisha, had also flown down from the U.K. along with her daughter. Within a week, however, an unease spread through the household and the gleam of Sasirekha’s bridal attire was replaced by the gloom of a hospital gown.

It started innocuously – the family had fallen mildly sick after savouring home-made popu annam (tempered rice) on June 2, but no one thought much of it. Then, on June 7, after Sasirekha enjoyed her first meal with her new family, her techie husband Mr. Purnender, 39, and mother-in-law Uma Maheshwari, 60, were hit by severe vomiting and diarrhoea. By morning, Sasirekha herself woke up with similar symptoms, and her father-in-law Hanumantha Rao, 66, followed soon after. As their condition worsened, mysterious neurological symptoms emerged – partial paralysis and excruciating burning sensations.

Hospital trips yielded no answers, and Mr. Purnender, who returned to the U.S. to rejoin work on June 22, continued to experience alarming weight loss, shedding 10 kg in less than three weeks. It was only then that a shocking truth surfaced – the family had been victims of a deliberate arsenic poisoning.

Ms. Maheshwari, who had been in perfect health until June 3 with no history of co-morbidities, quickly grew pale and weak. Within a month, she succumbed to critical pulmonary edema and acute respiratory failure. But this was only the beginning of the family’s ordeal.

“My mother was hospitalised with paraplegia, delirium, and difficulty in breathing and weakness on June 26. Despite the expensive and extensive treatment for suspected Guillain Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder, she passed away on July 5, leaving behind a mystery which had to be cracked to save the rest of the family,” shares Ms. Sirisha, 41, an oncologist.

At the funeral on July 7, the family suffered through the same cycle of vomiting and illness. This time, Ms. Sirisha sent a water sample to the Institute of Health Systems in Kukatpally, Hyderabad, but the results showed nothing unusual.

“Until my mother’s final prayers on July 15, we didn’t cook or eat at home, and everything seemed fine. But the moment we started eating home-cooked food again, things started worsening,” Ms. Sirisha recounts.

Though a pattern was emerging, none could pinpoint the cause. The breakthrough came from Rama Tharaknath Vemuri, a neurologist based in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, who suspected Sasirekha was suffering due to arsenic poisoning. Following his advice, the entire family was tested for heavy metal poisoning and the results blew the lid off a malicious plot driven by grudge and revenge – Sasirekha had been caught in a conspiracy aimed at Ms. Sirisha by her estranged husband, U.K.-based pharmacist Ajith Kumar Mupparapu.

Test results showed Hanumantha Rao’s arsenic levels were over 1,000 micrograms per litre – far above the normal limit of 35 mcg/L. Mr. Purnender’s levels reached 1,002 mcg/L while Sasirekha’s stood at 784 mcg/L.

The police are yet to apprehend Mr. Ajith, the key accused, against whom a look-out circular (opened to search for absconding criminals), and a blue notice (used to get further information on a suspect) were issued earlier last year.

The arrest is pending as the courts here are yet to issue a non-bailable warrant and red notice (a request for international cooperation to seek the location and arrest, detention, or restriction of movement of a wanted person).

Nine other accused have been arrested and produced in court between August 2023 and February 2024.

After the final chargesheet was filed on June 12 this year, summons were issued to the 10 accused for the first hearing on September 19. However, the date of hearing has now been adjourned to October 14.

Harassment and vengeance

Ms. Sirisha tied the knot with Mr. Ajith at Arya Samaj in Bowenpally, Hyderabad, in June 2018. Both had previously been married. After the wedding, the couple lived in her father’s flat along with Ms. Sirisha’s seven-year-old daughter from her first marriage.

Soon after, however, Mr. Ajith began to harass Ms. Sirisha mentally and physically, often making derogatory remarks about her and her daughter. He later moved to the U.K., and Ms. Sirisha and her daughter followed after he promised to change. However, his abuse worsened there, escalating to physical violence. He even assaulted the daughter, grabbing her by the throat. Ms. Sirisha says Mr. Ajith had also secretly installed cameras in their home to keep an eye on them.

“On August 29, 2022, when we both left the house, he chased us in his car. He threatened me, vowing to destroy me and my family if I didn’t return to him. I filed a formal complaint against Mr. Ajith with Maidenhead police. They registered a case and reprimanded him,” Ms. Sirisha adds.

Despite police intervention, Mr. Ajith’s harassment continued, even at her workplace, leading her to file for divorce and obtain a non-molestation order in October 2022.

As per the chargesheet filed by Miyapur police here post the arsenic poisoning, their marriage was considered short-term in the U.K. (less than five years), meaning there would be no division of assets between the couple.

“Ms. Sirisha sought financial mediation, specifically related to their family home in the U.K. but Mr. Ajith refused to engage in mediation with both the family law mediator on November 29, 2022, and their solicitors. On March 8, 2023, the U.K. police dismissed the case against Mr. Ajith, citing insufficient evidence to meet the threshold for prosecution,” read the chargesheet.

The U.K. family court issued a conditional divorce, pending financial settlement, says Ms. Sirisha.

Devising a toxic plot

A year after Ms. Maheshwari’s death, life of the Rao family remains at a standstill. “We were together for nearly 50 years, friends since childhood before we got married. My life is incomplete without her,” says Hanumantha Rao, his voice heavy with grief, as he clutches his wife’s framed photo.

Walking through his now-deserted 3BHK flat where the walls are bare, windows have no curtains, and furniture is covered with sheets, he adds: “I will be flying to the U.S. soon for Sasirekha’s delivery. She has had a complicated pregnancy.”

While Hanumantha Rao, Sasirekha, and Mr. Purnender undergo neurological rehabilitation and follow-up for liver and skin cancer, Ms. Sirisha, who filed for divorce in October 2022, lives with the weight of guilt – of being unable to save her mother and feeling responsible for Sasirekha’s ordeal.

“Even today I question how I, as a doctor, could not identify the issue and save my mother. I also considered leaving my profession. Sasirekha did not deserve any of this. The guilt has been difficult to process,” she says, sobbing.

Interestingly, arsenic was just one of the many attempts by Mr. Ajith to kill Ms. Sirisha’s family members; his main target was always Hanumantha Rao. From his base in Maidenhead, U.K., Mr. Ajith orchestrated five different plots in Hyderabad, spending lakhs of rupees and involving 10 accomplices.

For his first attempt, in January 2023, he hired two youth to stage a ‘road mishap’ to kill Hanumantha Rao. When that failed, Mr. Ajith hired two contract killers through an online portal. On March 28, he paid ₹2,000 to a food delivery agent to deliver arsenic-laced spices to the Rao residence. The delivery agent was also given ₹1,000 to blend in with a company uniform and bag.

“Between July and December 2022, my parents were in the U.S. with my brother. On January 1, 2023, my father returned to India while my mother came to the U.K. to stay with me and my daughter. Back home, father would order in food as he doesn’t know how to cook. That is what possibly kept my father safe for months,” Ms. Sirisha says.

The poisoned spices remained untouched until Ms. Maheshwari returned from the U.K. on May 20 for Mr. Purnender’s engagement. The Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad later confirmed that high amounts of arsenic were mixed in the family’s salt and chilli powder, leading to poisoning.

Sister’s hand in sourcing slow poison

A rare heavy metal, arsenic is a slow poison, known for its potency and discreteness. For a commoner, it is impossible to procure this toxin in its inorganic form. Mr. Ajith’s sister, Mupparapu Surekha, in-charge of the chemistry lab at the Atomic Energy Central School, Secunderabad, made procuring arsenic easy, breaching strict regulations outlined in the Poisons Act of 1919. A Telangana government order, which states that when selling poison, only the licensed person or a representative from a company can do so.

“The sale must take place at the same location where the poison is stored. Sellers must keep a record of all poison sales, verify the buyer’s identify and maintain detailed records,” he says.

According to the chargesheet, Surekha (accused no.10) was Mr. Ajith’s right arm in the murder plot. On March 6, 2023, she purchased sodium arsenite (arsenic) under her school’s name from Premier Trading Company in Abids locality. She then gave the poison to her brother Mr. Ajith during his visit to India just days later, on March 18. He mixed the arsenic with food supplies delivered to the Rao residence.

Mr. Ajith’s final attempt involved succinylcholine injections, sourced from his friend Bathula Ashok Kumar, a pharmacist and accused no.4. This part of the conspiracy, involving six people, marked the first arrests in the case.

Miyapur police apprehended Doppalapudi Vinod Kumar (29), Bhavani Shankar (28), Bathula Ashok (47), Busiraju Gopinath (27), Muthavarapu Purnendar Rao (49), and Gokulapati Ramesh (23) at a Hafeezpet hotel on August 19 last year, just 200 feet from Hanumantha Rao’s home. They were found with three succinylcholine injections, following previous failed attempts on May 31, June 4, June 25, July 17 and July 18.

Mr. Ajith’s second-in-command, Vinod Kumar devised the final plan. He enlisted the help of his friends Shankar and Gopinath to administer the injections to Rao and ordered nine vials of succinylcholine from ‘Aditya Pharmacy – Ganga Distributors’ for ₹392.93.

Meanwhile, Ms. Sirisha’s cousin, also named Purnendar, who lived on the sixth floor of the same building, backed the plan and helped Mr. Ajith by hiring the son of the building watchman to track Hanumantha Rao’s movements.

In one of their failed attempts, Shankar and Ashok showed up at the Rao residence, posing as distant relatives of Sasirekha. But they were sent away when Hanumantha Rao noticed their suspicious behaviour.

“I had received a call from them about an alleged affair involving my son and so, I asked them to come home for a conversation. When they sat down, I sensed something was off. One of them was being evasive to my questions related to Sasirekha while the other had an uncovered four-inch wound on his foot. They did not look worthy of trust, so I firmly asked them to leave,” recalls Hanumantha Rao.

Meanwhile, the accused also torched the Raos’ mango orchard at Kapugallu village in Telangana’s Nalgonda district, with photos and videos shared among Gopinath, Purnendar, and Mr. Ajith on WhatsApp.

Toxic ties

This case, considered one of Hyderabad’s most complex in recent history, highlights the reemergence of heavy metal poisoning as a deadly tool. A string of such cases in 2022-2023, including the poisoning deaths in Mumbai and Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, brought attention to arsenic and thallium as near-untraceable methods of murder.

In one such case from Santacruz in Mumbai, Sarla Devi and her son Kamalkant died in August and September 2022, respectively, after being poisoned with arsenic and thallium by Kamalkant’s wife and her paramour. In another instance from Gadchiroli, two women were arrested for killing five of a family between September and October 2023 by lacing their food and water with thallium, allegedly sourced from Telangana.

The Hyderabad investigation, led by Miyapur police, was solved without the help of specialised agencies. “However, we were able to crack it open with the help of human intelligence, technical prowess and other tools at hand,” says an official associated with the probe.

The process involved registering the case based on the complainant’s report, recording statements from 82 witnesses and victims, and thoroughly examining the crime scene.

Evidence, including phones, syringes, and poison remnants, was seized, and forensic analysis was conducted. The police arrested the accused, analysed their call records and bank transactions, and issued a lookout notice for those absconding. They also conducted a test identification parade and published a blue notice for the prime suspect, Mr. Ajith.

Arsenic detection tests are mainly done through urine samples, but the results often take three to five days, says Rajib Paul, the doctor treating Hanumantha Rao. “While the tests are accurate, faster results could improve treatment outcomes,” he explains.

Discussing the Rao family’s treatment, Dr. Paul mentions that the patients were initially suspected of arsenic poisoning, which was confirmed later through lab tests. “All of them experienced difficulty walking, pain, and a pins-and-needles sensation in their legs, along with weakness and abnormal bowel habits. Hanumantha Rao is improving but still has trouble walking and experiences mild pain,” he shares.

A document titled ‘Field Guide for Detection, Prevention, and Management of Arsenicosis in India’ by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare outlines the importance of identifying cases through skin symptoms and exposure history. “Although there is no specific cure for arsenicosis, stopping arsenic intake and managing symptoms are critical. Supportive treatments such as keratolytic agents for skin lesions and nutritional supplements may be beneficial,” the guide states.