BENGALURU: The accused in the murder of a 29-year-old home alone that was reported on January 4 in Electronic City police station was arrested in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. The accused, identified as Rajanish Kumar, 28, a native of Uttar Pradesh was a painter by profession and the victim’s brother’s acquaintance. Besides, he was also an alcoholic.
The victim, Neelam Kushavaha, a native of Uttar Pradesh, was staying with her family in the Ganga Block of Bettadasanapura. Her husband Pradhyumn ran a hardware shop in the vicinity and her brother Pankaj had a paint shop in the area. Pankaj would store his day’s collections at his house, of which the accused was aware of. Police sources informed that Kumar would come to Pankaj’s shop to buy paints.
The duo were close to each other because they were from Uttar Pradesh. Kumar would watch the shop when Pankaj went to deliver paint orders. He used to also accompany Pankaj to the victim’s house to store his collections. However, the accused had stopped working for the last four months and did not have money for alcohol.
On the day of the incident, when he went to Neelam’s house, she had invited him for breakfast. While she was serving food, the accused strangled her with a towel. Post the murder, he checked the entire house for the money. He finally made away with Neelam’s gold earrings and Rs 8,000 in cash. The incident came to light after Neelam’s son returned home from school in the afternoon.
Moreover, the building owner had also seen a person hurrying down the stairs, covering his face, which helped the police zero-in on the accused.