Bengaluru: A 26-year-old sepoy at the Army Service Corps (ASC) Centre, Bengaluru, was brutally murdered by his two colleagues following a tiff and later his body was burnt. The incident took place on the night of March 23, but came to light on Friday after the arrests by Vivek Nagar police.
Pankaj Kumar (26), a native of Uttar Pradesh, is the deceased and the accused have been identified Murali Krishna (35), hailing from Andhra Pradesh and Dhanraj (25).
The police investigation revealed that Pankaj and Murali who worked at the centre as drill inspectors were not in good terms for the past two years, after the former accused the latter of stealing his identity card.
As it is considered a serious offence in the army, an internal inquiry was initiated against Murali. Ever since the inquiry was ordered, Pankaj and Murali used to fight over it while Murali feared that he may be court-martialled. On the night of March 23, the duo fought over the same issue. Later, Murali sought the help of junior sepoy Dhanraj and went to Pankaj’s barack with a knife and a rope at around 11 pm.
Murali stabbed Pankaj while he was asleep while Dhanraj fastened the rope around his neck until he died. The duo then took the body to a garbage dumpyard on the premises and burnt it by pouring petrol.
The incident came to light the next day when Pankaj’s colleagues found him off duty. They checked on him at the barrack only to find him missing and there were traces of blood.
They then searched for him around the campus and found Pankaj’s half burnt body, following which the incident was brought to the notice of the corps officials, the police said.
The police who were informed about the internal inquiry on Murali and a tiff between them, Murali was detained for questioning. During the interrogation Murali confessed to killing Pankaj with the help of Dhanraj. The Vivek Nagar police arrested the duo and booked them under sections 302 (murder) 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.
