BENGALURU: The recent arrest of a cab driver and his wife for the murder of an elderly couple, has revealed that the Mandya police made a big blunder by putting an innocent couple behind bars.
Incidentally, cab driver Venkatesh and his wife Arpita saw this as an opportunity to strike again, and found another couple — Chandragowda (63) and wife Lakshmamma (55), who they allegedly killed at their residence in Bengaluru’s RHB Colony in Garudacharpalya, on October 16. They were arrested soon after.
Whitefield DCP MN Anucheth and his team, while interrogating Venkatesh and Arpita, had a shock in store when the duo reportedly confessed to have killed the couple because they were confident they wouldn’t get caught, after having killed another couple on July 12 in Mandya’s Rayasamudra.
The couple allegedly told police how they had planned the murders of senior citizens Gundegowda and wife Chandramma, and managed to escape. Emboldened, the couple looked for their next target, a senior police officer said.
In the Rayasamudra case, the couple allegedly met the senior citizens at a wedding. Realising they had no children, the couple became friendly with them. After building a rapport, they stayed over at the couple’s house in Rayasamudra on July 12. That night, Venkatesh killed them both using a spanner, and he and Arpita decamped with the gold in the house.
They sold the gold to a jeweller, to whom they also sold jewellery stolen from the Bengaluru couple’s house.Interestingly, KR Pet police in Mandya claimed to have solved the case within a week by arresting the couple’s neighbours, Yogesh and his wife Sujatha. The pair is still behind bars.The Bengaluru police have informed Mandya police about the alleged confession. “We will soon send a formal report to the police after the procedures are complete,” said Anucheth.Mandya police will have to file a report in court, after which the other couple can be released.