The police in Telangana’s Peddapalli district have arrested three people, including an expelled Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader, for the killing of a lawyer couple, The News Minute reported on Thursday. Gattu Vaman Rao and his wife PV Nagamani were stabbed multiple times on Wednesday afternoon.

The accused have been identified as Kunta Srinivas, who served as president of the TRS’ unit in Manthani mandal, Shivandula Chiranjeevi and Akkapaka Kumar.

Rao had named Srinivas in one of the purported video clips of the murder, The Indian Express reported. The TRS expelled Srinivas earlier on Thursday.

The police had received a tip-off that the accused were near the Telangana-Maharashtra border, according to The News Minute. A task force located and arrested them.

North Zone Inspector General Nagi Reddy said during a press briefing that legal dispute was the motive for the killings, the website reported. He said that Rao had objected to Srinivas building a house. The lawyer had also reportedly stopped the expelled TRS leader from constructing a temple, alleging that it was being built illegally. The police officer added that the two were also locked in a dispute over a temple committee.

On the day of the incident, Rao had gone to Manthani for a hearing about the same dispute, according to The News Minute.

Also read: Telangana lawyer couple murdered in broad daylight, High Court takes suo motu cognisance

Meanwhile, Gattu Vaman Rao’s father Kishan Rao said in his police complaint that his son and daughter-in-law had been murdered for threatening to expose illegal land deals, The Indian Express reported. On Thursday, the Telangana High Court took suo motu cognisance of the murder.

The murder took place in Peddapalli district around 2.30 pm on Wednesday when two assailants intercepted their car. They attacked them with knives and other sharp weapons. Some passers-by filmed a video of Rao lying on the road. A police team took Rao and his wife to a hospital, but they succumbed to their injuries.

The lawyer couple’s murder triggered a political row in the state. Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress demanded a high-level inquiry into the killing.