Smartly planned attack': Cops arrest Bengaluru man for Pune techie murder

Pune: A youth from Bengaluru, who was detained in connection with the brutal murder of a young woman IT professional here, has been arrested, with police suspecting it to be a case of one-sided affair.

Santosh Kumar (25) was arrested late last night, days after he was detained for questioning, police said on Thursday.

"During investigation, it was revealed that Santosh Kumar had very smartly planned the murder. The accused claimed that he was present in Bengaluru on the day of the incident," Additional Superintendent of Police Rajkumar Shinde said.

Antara Das, 21, was attacked with a sharp weapon near Kanbay Chowk in Talawade on the outskirts of Pune on Friday night, barely 500 metres from her workplace. She was declared dead upon arrival in a hospital.

Her parents had alleged that a youth was stalking and harassing her for some time.

The ASP said it was found that Kumar, who hails from Bengaluru and is also an IT professional, had tasked someone to execute the attack.

A search is on to nab that person, he said. "We have arrested Kumar under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 120(b) (criminal conspiracy) and he will be produced before court today," Shinde said.

The accused had provided CCTV footage to the police, claiming that he was in Bengaluru on the day of the incident. Shinde said it was suspected to be a case of one-sided affair from Kumar's side. The victim, however, treated him just as a friend.

"There are messages between them which showed that Kumar was forcing her to have a relationship with him. However, she was non-responsive and even reprimanded him for harassing her. We are looking out for the other person in this connection and the manhunt has been intensified," he said.