The incident took place near Ibrahimpatnam in the Ranga Reddy district on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The brother allegedly killed the constable, S Nagamani, due to his opposition to her inter-caste marriage, police said.

The victim married one Srikant, who belongs to another case, on November 21 at Yadagirigutta, The Indian Express reported.

However, police said that the constable’s family was completely against her relationship, adding that her brother, Parmesh, had threatened the couple with dire sequences.

Earlier, Nagamani’s brother and family were given police counselling in view of her inter-caste marriage with Srikant. But the husband alleged that right after the sessions, Parmesh threatened the couple.

Over the weekend, the couple had travelled to Srikant’s house in Ibrahimpatnam from Hyderabad to meet his mother. Notably, both of Nagamani’s parents are deceased and she only has siblings.

Police said that the accused had allegedly been planning to kill his sister for a week, adding that he had also deployed a person to watch her movements.

On Monday morning, Srikant left for work and later called up his wife to check up on her. During the call, Nagamani told him that “my brother has come to kill me” and then the call got disconnected.

Parmesh, riding in a car, chased and hit Nagamani’s two-wheeler from behind, causing her to fall on the road. After this, he hacked her to death with an axe, a police officer was cited as saying by The Indian Express.

By the time Srikant rushed to the spot, the constable was dead. Meanwhile, Parmesh turned himself in a few minutes after the murder.

Additionally, Nagamani, who was posted at the Hayathnagar police station, and Parmesh were also engaged in a land dispute which, the cops said they were looking into.

“Two versions are coming out. One is the honour-killing angle. One is a dispute for the property. We will have clarity very soon,” DCP Maheshwaram told The Indian Express.

However, Srikant told news channels that his wife was not murdered over a land dispute. “It (attack) was planned. She was killed for inter-caste marriage and not over the land issue,” he alleged.

Police have registered a murder case and further investigations are underway.

(with PTI inputs)