Bengaluru: It was a pair of slippers left at the crime spot that gave away the accused in the murder of a septuagenarian woman at the Adugodi police station limits on June 16.
The police have arrested 22-year-old Syed Nadeem alias Chummi, a resident of Neelasandra and a welder.
He allegedly crushed 65-year-old Gajalakshmi to death with a boulder when she was asleep at her scrap shop in the early hours of that day. All Nadeem wanted was Rs 6,800 she had to feed his addiction.
The deceased, who had recently lost her husband and son, was living with her daughter-in-law and grandchildren in Neelasandra and was running the scrap shop in L.R. Nagar to earn a living.
Around 3.30 am on June 16, Nadeem, who was aware that Gajalakshmi had money with her, entered the shop with an intention to steal the money and killed her before fleeing with the cash.
Earlier, Nadeem was a frequent visitor to Gajalakshmi's shop to sell scrap collected at the place where he was working.
He had quit the job five days before the murder and was in need of money for his addictions. On June 15, he came to know that Gajalakshmi had some money with her as she had sold a few of her goats.
He also knew that Gajalakshmi slept alone at the shop and hatched the plan to kill her and steal the money, the police said.
The same day morning, passersby noticed Gajalakshmi lying in a pool of blood and informed the police.
During the investigation, the police found a pair of slippers with burnt mark at the murder spot.
When it was shown to family members of Gajalakshmi, they said it did not belong to her.
The investigators took the slippers as possible evidence, and forensic experts identified the burnt marks on the slippers as from welding sparks.
The police then questioned all the welders in the nearby areas and picked up Nadeem for further questioning. During the interrogation, Nadeem said that the slippers belonged to him and that he killed Gajalakshmi to get her money.
Accused waited next to scrap shop
Nadeem, the police said, waited for nearly two hours near a toilet adjacent to Gajalakshmi's scrap shop since midnight.
Around 2 am, Nadeem thought that Gajalakhsmi would be asleep and tried to enter, but the goats in the shop made noise, and he had to go back.
He waited at the same spot for one more hour before committing the crime at around 3.30 am.
