TUMAKURU: Kunigal police have cracked a murder case involving a woman journalist who allegedly executed the crime. They have arrested Tejeshwari(28), daughter of Shivaputrappa Ingalagi, who claimed to be a ‘crime focus news reporter’ based at Rajajinanagara in Bengaluru, Basanagagouda (37), owner of ‘Natural Home’ hotel on Lingasuguru Road in Raichur, Prakash Kumar K (37), a professional videographer of Anjana Nagara in Bengaluru and Ashoka J (38), a car driver in Kamakshipalya. The accused allegedly conspired and murdered Sudheendra Mutalik (45), a headmaster with a private school at Lingasugur.
The accused, Basanagouda had acquaintance with victim Sudheendra Mutalik for some time as the latter was addicted to gambling on IPL cricket matches. Meanwhile, the accused had got into an affair with the victim’s wife Ambika. When Mutalik came to know about it, he divorced her. The accused tried but in vain to marry Ambika and decided to murder the victim. He befriended Tejeshwari and Prakash Kumar and the trio hatched a plot to kill Mutalik. The ‘supari’ was given to Prakash Kumar and the operation was named as ‘Operation oota ayita.’
Interestingly, key accused Basabanagouda had also taken out an LIC policy for `50 lakh in the name of the victim in order to claim it after the murder. As per the conspiracy, Tejeshwari guided Prakash Kumar to take the victim for drinks and dinner on October 29 night. They had dinner at a dhaba near Bengaluru and picked up the victim in a car and strangled him to death and threw the body off Huliyurudurga road.