Investigators will have to establish whether the chats are genuine, who sent them and whether they reflect an actual conspiracy. Digital forensic examination of the original devices could prove crucial to the case.
BY PC Burt\eau
August 8, 2026: A WhatsApp conversation has become the centrepiece of a murder investigation in Telangana after a Khammam man approached police claiming that messages exchanged between his wife and another man contained a plan to kill him and make the death appear to be a road accident.
G. Rajeshwara Rao, a resident of Chilkodu in Dornakal mandal and an employee at a private hospital in Khammam, approached the Dornakal police with screenshots of the alleged conversations and other material. Police registered a Zero FIR and subsequently transferred the case to the Khammam Rural police station.
Rao has alleged that his wife, Bhavani, and Saidulu, a courier delivery agent whom he describes as her alleged lover, were conspiring to eliminate him. He told investigators that he was frightened for his safety as well as that of his two daughters and sought police protection.
According to Rao’s complaint, he married Bhavani, who is from Raghavapuram in Mattampally mandal of Suryapet district, in 2016. They have two daughters. Rao told police that he began noticing changes in his wife’s behaviour in recent months and later suspected that she had developed a close relationship with Saidulu.
His suspicions, he alleged, intensified after he came across WhatsApp exchanges between the two.
One of the conversations cited in the complaint allegedly involved Bhavani telling Saidulu that they could live together if he killed her husband. She allegedly warned him against carrying out the killing inside the house because it could lead investigators to suspect her, and instead suggested that his death be made to look like a road accident.
In another alleged exchange, Rao claimed Bhavani told Saidulu that if he was unwilling to kill her husband, she would do it herself.
A WhatsApp chat between a woman and her alleged lover in Telangana has revealed a suspected plot to murder her husband by staging a road accident, according to a police complaint filed by the husband.
The husband said that the man was asked to murder him by his wife. The… https://t.co/I9w5HpNxvK pic.twitter.com/isHx4DB4iX
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) August 8, 2026
Rao said the messages left him convinced that what he believed was an extramarital relationship had escalated into an alleged conspiracy against his life.
Khammam Rural Inspector M. Raju said investigators were examining the material submitted by Rao rather than treating the screenshots as conclusive evidence.
“We have registered a case based on the complaint and are examining the evidence, including the chat messages. The allegations and the authenticity of the material are being verified as part of the investigation,” he said.
Police are examining the alleged relationship between Bhavani and Saidulu, the circumstances surrounding the conversations and whether either of them took any concrete steps to execute the alleged plan. Both are currently reported to be absconding, and police are searching for them.
How police can establish whether WhatsApp chats are genuine
Screenshots by themselves do not necessarily establish that a WhatsApp conversation is authentic. Investigators can seek the original device or devices, examine the chat database and associated files, and compare the material with other evidence such as call records, photographs, location information and financial transactions.
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Digital forensic specialists can also examine metadata and the structure of extracted chat data to determine whether messages appear to have been altered, deleted or manipulated. Where possible, investigators may create a forensic image of a phone so that the original device can be preserved while the data is examined.
The strongest evidence generally comes from the original device and a properly documented chain of custody rather than from isolated screenshots. Investigators may also examine whether the alleged conversation is consistent with other digital evidence and whether the accounts, phone numbers and devices involved can be linked to the people named in the complaint.
In the Khammam case, therefore, the screenshots submitted by Rao are evidence for investigators to examine, not in themselves proof that the alleged murder plot existed. Their authenticity, the identity of the people behind the accounts and the context in which the messages were exchanged will have to be established during the investigation.
The allegations against Bhavani and Saidulu have not been proved in court.
