According to Hayatnagar police, the incident happened at around 2 pm. The accused, who came alone at around 1.30 pm, enquired about the tehsildar and went into her chamber when she was having lunch.
The deceased was identified as Ch Vijaya Reddy from Thotapalli village of Nakirekal block of Nalgonda district and was working as tehsildar of the newly created Abdullapurmet tehsil in Hayatnagar block.
The assailant, who was identified as Suresh Mudiraj, a farmer from Gourelli village near Hayatnagar, also sustained severe burn injuries. “He is in our custody and is presently undergoing treatment at a private hospital near Kompalli. He has sustained 60 per cent burns,” Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagawat told reporters.
Hayatnagar police, quoting eye-witness accounts, said, the incident happened between 1.45 pm and 2 pm. The accused, who came alone at around 1.30 pm, enquired about the tehsildar and went into her chamber on the ground floor of the building when she was taking lunch.
“He went into the chamber with a bag in his hand, then locked the room. Suddenly, there were screams coming from the room. Soon, the accused with his clothes burning came out running and ran towards the road by removing his shirt. Vijaya came out screaming completely engulfed in flames and collapsed in the corridor,” the police said.
The driver and another employee rushed towards her and tried to douse the flames with a blanket, but by that time, she was completely burnt and died on the spot. The two men who tried to save her also sustained injuries, the police said.
A woman employee, who did not identify herself, told reporters that she was attending a call on her mobile on the first floor when she heard a loud sound from the ground floor. “When I came down, I noticed a stout man with his clothes burning running out of the office. Madam was burning in flames in front of her chambers. I got panicky and went up the stairs again to alert other staff members,” she said.
Suresh, who came out of the office, also collapsed after running for some distance. He was later shifted to a local hospital from where he was shifted to another bigger hospital at Kompalli. Vijaya’s body was shifted to Osmania General Hospital for post mortem.
Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagawat and L B Nagar deputy commissioner of police Sunpreet Singh rushed to the spot to probe the matter. “Preliminary investigations revealed that Suresh had a quarrel with the tehsildar over a land dispute in his village. The case is presently in court. That could be the motive for the murder,” Bhagawat said.
He said the police would investigate the case in a scientific manner and see that the accused would get the capital punishment. “We are also investigating whether there are any other persons who had provoked Suresh to commit the murder,” he said.
Employees of the revenue department blocked the Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway for some time. They also met Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy demanding that stringent action be taken against the accused.
State minister for education Sabita Indra Reddy, who visited the spot, strongly condemned the murder. “If there are any land disputes to be resolved by the officials, people should take them up with higher-ups but not resort to inhuman crimes,” she said.
Prasanta Patnaik