Use of nicknames led police to little Saanvi's killer

For USD 50,000, a 26-year-old software engineer from Andhra Pradesh kidnapped and killed his family friend's 10-month-old baby Saanvi, whose body he stuffed in a suitcase, but nicknames used by him in the ransom note provided critical clues that helped the police nab him.

Raghunandan Yandamuri was arrested on charges of kidnapping and killing Saanvi Venna and her 61-year-old grandmother Satyavathi Venna, who was found dead at an apartment complex in Upper Merion Township on October 22.

Yandamuri, who used to live in the same complex, was produced before a Pennsylvania court after the police recovered the body of Saanvi on Friday from the men's locker room of his apartment's gymnasium in the King of Prussia, hidden inside a dark wooden sauna under a deep bench, with blood marks on her white dress.

Court documents indicate that Yandamuri moved to King of Prussia, in Upper Merlon Township of Pennsylvania from San Jose in California. Being held without a bail, he does not have a lawyer.

He told the detectives that he targeted the apartment of Venkata Venna, 41, and Chenchu Latha Punuru because he believed they had money as they both were employed.

The 10 copies of the ransom note demanding USD 50,000 that he had left in the apartment at the time of the incident led to his arrest.

The ransom note asked Venkata that 'Lata' be asked to deliver USD 50,000 the 'Baha Fresh' at the ACME store complex.

Investigators determined 'Lata' is a reference to Chenchu, wife of Venkata and only some close friends call her by that name.

'The first word in the ransom note is 'Shiva'. During the interview Vankata told the investigators that his full name is Venkata Konda Siva Prasad Venna, and some of his close friends and family members call him 'Siva',' the affidavit said.

Both Chenchu and Venkata were asked to provide a list of people who had knowledge of the 'Siva' and 'Lata' names.

Each provided a list of Indian natives who either used or were aware of these nicknames, Among the names provided by the couple was the name of 'Ragu' , who happened to be Raghunandan Yandamuri.

According Raghunandan alias Ragu, he killed Satyavathi as she resisted the kidnapping of Saanvi.

Raghu told the police that Saanvi began to cry and he stuffed a handkerchief in her mouth to make her stop crying and placed a bath towel around her head to hold the handkerchief in place.

'He then put her inside a blue suitcase he found in the bedroom, he took the jewellery he found in the apartment and placed that in the suitcase with Saanvi, he then left the apartment and abandoned Saanvi's body hidden in the steam room of the men's bathroom of the gymnasium located inside marquis Apartment Building,' the affidavit said.

"Raghu then dumped the knife, some of his clothes and the blue suitcase in a dumpster in another part of the Upper Merion Township, he disposed some of the stolen jewellery in the Schuylkill river and said he left some at his place of employment," the police said.

The authorities had also announced USD 50,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of the toddler.

The police, in its affidavit, said that Yandamuri told the detectives at the end of his interrogation to tell the media that his wife turned him in so that she could get the USD 50,000 award announced by the police and Telugu community for information leading to Saanvi.