Hyderabad police have detained four men from Maharashtra in connection with the alleged murder of Begumpet cab driver Rajshekhar and the theft of his vehicle, after investigators traced the cab and reconstructed the journey that ended with his body being found at Rudraram in Patancheru.
Rajshekhar, 35, was working as a cab driver and providing transport services to employees of a software company. His family filed a missing-person complaint at Begumpet police station on September 10 after he failed to return following a trip in his vehicle. His body was found two days later at Rudraram in Patancheru.
According to the police investigation reported by Telangana Today, the suspects allegedly booked Rajshekhar’s cab by posing as passengers. After the vehicle crossed Patancheru, they allegedly forced him to change seats and took control of the car. Police suspect that the group attacked the driver and strangled him with a wire. He was also allegedly assaulted on the face before being killed.
The suspects allegedly abandoned Rajshekhar’s body on the roadside near Rudraram and fled in the cab. Investigators later traced the vehicle nearly 50 km from the location where the body was found, near National Highway 65 at Budhera in Sangareddy district.
Police found beer bottles and biryani packets inside the vehicle during the initial investigation. Investigators also questioned more than a dozen cab drivers who knew Rajshekhar to establish his movements and identify the people who had travelled with him.
The investigation subsequently indicated that the alleged killing was planned to steal the cab. Police have taken the four suspects into custody and are examining their previous criminal activities, the sequence of events and whether they may have been involved in similar incidents elsewhere.
The case highlights the risks faced by cab drivers who carry unknown passengers across Hyderabad’s expanding metropolitan road network, particularly on trips that move from dense city areas towards peripheral districts. The supplied report does not provide details of the suspects’ identities, the specific police units involved or whether formal charges have been filed.
Police are continuing the investigation into the alleged murder, the vehicle theft and the suspects’ possible links to other cases.
