Bengaluru: The Jnanabharathi police have arrested a 30-year-old habitual offender in connection with the murder of a 60-year-old security guard, who was bludgeoned to death at the Male Mahadeshwara temple in Nagarabhavi on October 5.
The arrested has been identified as Kumar alias Narayan Raj alias Pilli Kumara (30), a resident of Kalasipalya in the city and hailing from Ramanagara, the police said.
According to police, Kumar was earlier convicted for 5 years sentence in two theft cases and was also involved in a pickpocket case. He was also accused in more than 40 cases where he targeted temple hundis (donation box). He targeted the temples located on the city outskirts and in Mysuru, the police said.
Bludgeoned to death
On October 5, the Male Mahadeshwara temple security guard, Raju Gowda, a resident of Chandra Layout, was bludgeoned to death by Kumar.
He had visited the temple in the afternoon and observed that the temple was an ideal target. In the night Kumar gained entry into the temple to steal the hundi, only to find that the security guard was asleep inside the temple.
Kumar decided to eliminate the security guard. Using a stone boulder he bludgeoned the security guard to death and attempted to break open the hundi, but he could not. A panic stricken Kumar fled the spot.
The Jnanabharathi police had detained over 50 people for questioning and eventually found out that Kumar was the man behind the murder. The police produced the accused before a magistrate on Tuesday to seek police custody for further investigations.
