BENGALURU: Three weeks after a model-cum-event manager was found murdered near Kempegowda International Airport, the Bagalur police have cracked the case with the arrest of an Ola cab driver. The body of the woman, which was lying in a field, was found on July 31 by a local who had alerted the police. The cab driver has now confessed that he attacked the woman in a bid of rob her.
The accused HM Nagesh (22), a resident of Hegganahalli Cross, had joined Ola a few months earlier after completing his high schooling. He had missed out on paying two EMIs on his vehicle loan and was in need of money. A senior police officer said two teams were formed to solve the case.
A wristwatch, a pair of Jealous-21 jeans and a pair of branded footwear, which the victim Pooja Singh (32) was wearing, were the only clues available. She had sustained blunt force trauma in the head as well multiple stab injuries on the chest, abdomen, throat and cuts on the palms.
Branded items on victim help police crack case
Her handbag, mobile phone and other belongings were missing from the spot. Pooja was into modelling and was also working as a freelance event manager. She had come to the city on July 30 for an event and was returning home the next day when she was murdered.
The staff at the hotel where she was staying had no information about the event she had attended. During the investigation, police traced a unique identity number of the wristwatch which she had purchased online.
They also got details about the other branded items found on he
r person, her phone number and email IDs. Police then learnt that Pooja had booked an Ola cab online after she arrived in the city.After killing her, Nagesh had dumped the body in a vacant piece of land behind the KIA compound near Kadayarappanahalli village in the wee hours. He had switched off Pooja’s mobile phone and kept it in her bag. He threw out her bank cards when he found only Rs 500 in her bag. The body was found later that evening.
Police teams visited Delhi and Kolkata where they inquired about missing persons and stumbled upon a match at New Town police station in Kolkata. Pooja’s husband Soudeep De came to Bengaluru and identified the body.
What happened on that day?
A senior police officer said Pooja had booked Nagesh’s cab on July 30 afternoon from Crescent Road in Kumara Park area to be dropped off at a hotel in Parappana Agrahara. When Nagesh dropped her, she asked him to come at 4 am on July 31 to drop her off to the airport. She even agreed to pay Rs 1,200 for the ride.
Around 5.15 am, on noticing that she was asleep, he drove the cab to an isolated place and attacked her with a jack rod. Pooja got off the cab and started running, but Nagesh chased her and stabbed repeatedly. When she collapsed, he bludgeoned her to death. Nagesh hails from Mandya and was living with his parents in the city. The parents were shocked when the police searched their house. Nagesh was nabbed from the taxi stand at the airport when he was about to start a trip.