Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Rural police stumbled upon a meticulously planned and executed double murder while investigating the alleged suicide of a woman in Hoskote.
Sudharani (40), wife of a security guard Venkataswamy, in Nimbekayipur in Avalahalli police limits allegedly committed suicide by setting herself ablaze. But the police investigation revealed that it was a murder, and, horrifyingly, it was committed to hush up another murder of a 60-year-old man. As the police dug deep, it was revealed that the layered plot was hatched to grab a land worth Rs 15 crore in Belathur village near K.R. Puram.
The accused have been identified as S. Ramesh alias Belathur Ramesh (50) of Belathur, Shankarappa alias Sahukar Shankarappa (55) of Bangarpet, Dhananjaya J. (57) of Kamalanagar, Krishnappa aka Stamp Vendor (50) of Guttahalli near Hosakote, Venkateshappa M. (60) of Kammasandra, M. Keshavamurthy alias Keshava (41) of Seegehalli and A. Venkataswamy (43) of Nimbekayipura.
How it unfolded
The Avalahalli police on September 18 received information that a woman committed suicide by setting herself ablaze in Nimbekayipur. The police rushed to the spot and identified the woman as Sudharani. During the mahazar, the police found blood stains on a wall of the house and suspected foul play. They summoned Sudharani's husband Venkataswamy and during intense interrogation, he admitted to killing his wife.
What Venkataswamy revealed next shocked the policemen. He told the police that he along with the other accused killed his wife fearing that she would spill the beans on the murder they committed of a 60-year-old man to get the land worth Rs 15 crore.
Venkataswamy told the police that his employer S. Ramesh, a real estate businessman, along with the other accused hatched a plan to get the 1 acre and 8 guntas of land near Belathur, which was lying unclaimed for years. He found that the land was in the name of one Nanjappa which was gifted to him by the Mysuru royal family in the mid-1920s. Ramesh then planned to claim the property by creating fake documents. He approached Stamp Vendor Krishnappa with one Venkataramappa aged 90 years and got the land documents forged to show that Venkataramappa was Nanjappa.
They took Venkataramappa to the Banasawadi Sub-Registrar’s office and got a will made which stated that the ownership of the land will be transferred to Ramesh as he is the caretaker of Nanjappa.
Ramesh, who was in a hurry to get the property transferred to his name, knew that it won't be possible unless Nanjappa is dead and the death certificate is produced in the sub-registrar's office.
The gang then found Kirshnappa (60) of Mulabagilu at the Kolar bus-stand and lured him, promising him work in Bengaluru. They gave him loose motion tablets with alcohol and took him to a nearby hospital after his condition worsened. Prior to admitting Krishnappa, the gang had contacted Dr Kulkarni for a death certificate, but he had denied saying that he would not give it unless he saw a body.
As the gang took Krishnappa to the hospital, the doctor declared him dead and issued a death certificate in the name of Nanjappa, aged 90 years.
The police are probing the role of the doctor and are also searching for some more accused, who are absconding.
