UK pharmacist accused in Hyderabad arsenic murder case
HYDERABAD: Alleged abuse, stalking detailed in court submissions
Counsel says accused targeted wife, child and pet
A UK-based Indian-origin pharmacist, identified as Mupparapu, allegedly subjected his estranged wife Sirisha and her family to sustained abuse and later plotted multiple murder attempts, a court heard.
James Lewis KC, appearing for the Indian government, told the court that Mupparapu physically and verbally abused Sirisha, her seven-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, and even their pet dog after their marriage in June 2018. The couple moved to the UK soon after and separated in August 2022.
Lewis said Mupparapu later stalked and terrorised Sirisha, prompting her to initiate divorce proceedings.
Arsenic-laced food linked to mother-in-law’s death
Family members hospitalised after consuming contaminated meals
According to the submissions, Mupparapu’s sister, Surekha Mupparapu, a chemistry teacher at the Atomic Energy Central School in Hyderabad, allegedly procured sodium arsenite under the pretext of laboratory use.
Lewis said Mupparapu travelled to India in March 2023 and paid a Swiggy delivery worker ₹2,000 to deliver a parcel containing poisoned substances to his father-in-law’s residence in Hyderabad.
When the family gathered at the flat in early June 2023 for Sirisha’s brother’s wedding, they consumed home-cooked meals and later developed symptoms including diarrhoea and vomiting. On July 5, 2023, Uma Maheshwari, Mupparapu’s mother-in-law, died in hospital.
Other family members were tested and found to have high levels of arsenic in their systems. Investigators also found traces of arsenic in spices stored at the residence, Lewis said.
Multiple failed plots to kill father-in-law alleged
Contract killers, injections and staged accident attempts cited
The court was told that Mupparapu had a dispute with his father-in-law, Hanumantha Rao Muttavarapu, over agricultural land and believed he had been cheated.
In January 2023, he allegedly hired two men Mohammed Azeem Khan and Rizwan Khan to stage a fatal road accident targeting Rao. The attempt failed.
In February 2023, Mupparapu allegedly arranged ₹2 lakh payments to two individuals, Karthik Vemulapally and Mohit Prahaladka, who had advertised themselves as contract killers on the dark web. The payments were routed through one of his employees, a software engineer at Wipro, without disclosing the purpose.
Lewis further said Mupparapu conspired with six others, including a watchman’s son and Sirisha’s cousin Purnendar, to administer succinylcholine injections to Rao. The drug can cause respiratory failure in large doses. This plan also did not succeed.
India is seeking Mupparapu’s extradition on charges of murder, attempted murder and criminal conspiracy.
