Bengaluru: A 56-year-old woman, who went missing from her house in J.C. Nagar last Thursday (August 25), was found murdered and her charred body was recovered from an isolated spot in Mandya by the city police on Sunday.
The deceased, identified as Thimmamma, was a resident of 12th Main, JC Nagar, near Cauvery Factory road, and used to work as a flower seller in the area, the police said.
Her husband Venkataramana, a retired electrician from Coffee Board, had approached the jurisdictional Mahalakshmi Layout police on August 25. He had stated that a woman, who had identified herself as Meena, had called his wife from a telephone booth.
“She had told my wife to go along with her to collect '3000 from somebody who owed money to my wife,” said Venkataramana. “My wife went with her and did not return,” he added.
Venkataramana reported this incident to the police hoping Thimmamma would return in a day or two. But her harried family members managed to retrieve a CCTV footage from a shop in which Thimmamma was clearly seen going with a woman, identified as Sheela, their neighbour.
Venkataramanna confronted her family members and enquired about his wife’s whereabouts. Sheela initially tried to misguide them by saying she did not meet Thimmamma on that day, but later said that she accompanied Thimmamma to a person, who owed her money and left her there. Venkataramana felt something was amiss and approached the police, armed with CCTV footage, and requested them to investigate Sheela’s role.
Women police officers from Mahalakshmi Layout police station picked up Sheela for questioning and she then blurted out the truth. “Sheela and her accomplice Arun had taken my wife on August 25 on the pretext of getting Rs 3000 from a person who owed her money. They circled around J.C. Nagar for some time and later drove towards Mysore. When Thimmamma raised an alarm, they stopped the vehicle and strangulated Thimmamma to death. They then robbed her jewellery, totally weighing over 50 grams and '6,000 in cash,” Venkataramanna said.
They later drove the van to Mandya and dumped the body nearly five kilometres from Mandya on the road side. The poured petrol over the body and set it ablaze. “Sheela has confessed all these to the police,” Venkataramanna said.
The Mahalakshmi Layout police went along with Venkataramana to Mandya on Sunday and recovered the body that was shifted to Mandya taluk hospital for postmortem. It was later handed over to Venkataramanna.
Mahalakshmi Layout police have registered a case of kidnap, murder and robbery and have launched a manhunt for Arun, who had gone absconding after Sheela was picked up the police.
