BENGALURU: The words ‘King Kohli’ on the back of an autorickshaw has helped the Bengaluru police solve the recent murder of a 82-year-old home-alone woman reported under Mahalakshmi Layout police station limits. The woman, identified as Kamala, was found murdered at her residence in Nagapura on May 27.
The police stumbled upon this vital clue while going through the CCTV camera footage from the locations close to Kamala’s house. The police found an autorickshaw — with the words ‘King Kohli’ written on its back — frequenting the locality for several days leading to the murder. On the day of the murder, the same auto was found near Kamala’s residence — but this time with the words ‘King Kohli’ and the vehicle’s registration number hidden using a tape.
The police have arrested Ashok (40), Anjanamurthy (33) and Siddaraju (34), all residents of Bengaluru, on charges of murdering Kamala. “Ashok is a plumber by profession. Three months ago, he went to Kamala’s house to fix leaking pipes. Ashok realised that Kamala resided alone in the house and was in possession of gold jewels and cash. Ashok, along with Siddaraju and Anjanamurthy, hatched a plan to rob her as they were in debt and in need of money” the police said.
The trio visited Kamala’s house on Anjanamurthy’s auto to rob her. In the first attempt, they removed the auto’s registration plate. They dropped the plan as the area was crowded. In the second attempt, they went to the house under the guise of requesting Kamala to rent the car shed to be used as a godown to store biscuits. They even gave her some biscuits and while she was eating them, Kamala was dragged, gagged and murdered, the police added.
On the day of the crime, the accused used tapes to hide the words ‘King Kohli’ and the number plate of the auto. “Along with this clue and other information we gathered during the investigation, our team launched a search for the accused who were caught near Mysuru,” the police added. Siddaraju, who works as a labourer, was into betting and was in huge debt, the police added. The trio are under police custody.