BENGALURU: Ten days after a woman filed a case at the Rajagopalnagar police station that her husband was missing, the police found it to be a case of murder, which was planned by the woman and executed by her paramour.
The police arrested both the accused – Neela (30), wife of the deceased Madhusudhan (35), and her paramour Pradeep (30) – and are looking for two friends of Pradeep who were part of the plan. The deceased, a resident of Indira Priyadarshini Nagar, was an employee at a garment shop.
On the night of October 10, Pradeep, who was also a friend of Madhusudhan, called him up for a drink near Kengeri. Pradeep knew that Madhusudhan would not refuse, as he was addicted to alcohol. When Madhusudhan reached the spot, Pradeep and his two friends strangled him to death and threw the body into a big stormwater drain near Kengeri, the police said.
The plan for Madhusudhan's murder was hatched two months ago by Neela and Pradeep, a lorry driver, who were seeing Madhusudhan as a hindrance to their 'eternal love', the police said.
After the murder, Pradeep asked Neela to file the missing complaint, fearing that Madhusudan's father or friends may ask her on his whereabouts. On October 14, Neela filed the complaint, stating her husband who had gone to work four days ago had not returned home.
Meanwhile, Bidadi police on October 16 recovered a decomposed body of a man from the drain in their limits. The police took the body to a hospital where it was kept in a cold storage. The Bidadi police also informed other nearby police stations about the body.
On Thursday, Rajagopalnagar police, who were searching for Madhusudhan, rushed to Bidadi along with the father of the deceased, Devaraj Rao, who identified his son by a tattoo.
Devaraj suspected Neela and she was detained for questioning. During the interrogation, she confessed to the crime and named Pradeep. Later, Pradeep was also arrested.
Madhu and Neela were married for 10 years and have an eight-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son.
