Three murders, including that of a realtor, were reported in the city, since Monday night.
In the first incident, Manjunath (45), a realtor and BJP worker from Mahadevapura, was brutally murdered and his body was later set on fire at Kasavanahalli in Bangarpet, Kolar district. Bangarpet police arrested Meena, alias Manjula (Manjunath’s wife), Kiran (main accused), Murali, Babu and Lokesh in this connection. A source said Meena and Kiran, with whom Manjunath was running a real estate business since 12 years, were allegedly having an illicit affair.
The victim was a resident of A Narayanapura near K R Puram. DySP G Guruswamy told Express that Manjunath was stabbed to death in a room at his house on Sunday night. Kiran, who was also a tenant at the house, was involved with Manjula, who initiated the plot to kill her husband. Kiran’s friends Murali, Babu and Lokesh were paid `25,000 each to help carry out the crime.
After killing Manjunath, the five took the body in his Innova car and set it on fire, and made the incident look like an accident.
Meanwhile, Kadugodi police found his damaged car abandoned near a petrol bunk at Shigehalli Gate on Monday night, when one Paramesh, a resident of Belathur, lost balance and rammed his car into Manjunath’s car.
“There were blood stains and a knife found in Manjunath’s car,” said the DySP.
When there was no trace of him, his sister filed a missing complaint with Mahadevapura police station.
After the Bangarpet police found Manjunath’s body at Kasavanahalli on Monday night, they alerted the Mahadevapura police, who in turn, called Kiran to identify the body on Tuesday.
It was said that the victim’s gold ring and silver chain were found intact.
In the second incident, a 34-year-old bartender was allegedly murdered by his friends over a petty issue at Vinayaka Layout near Nayandahalli in Chandra Layout on Monday night. The assailants later set the body on fire at a vacant site. Police said the victim, Sathish Kumar, a resident of Jagjivan Ram Nagar, was the brother of a notorious history sheeter Bhakta.
The incident took place around midnight when Kumar was allegedly harassed by his friends Nagendra, Yogananda and Srinivas over a financial dispute. The police said that Nagendra picked up a quarrel with Kumar over sharing liquor, after which, the trio assaulted and killed him.
The police tracked down Nagendra, who had blood stains on his shirt and took him into custody. Upon questioning, he confessed to having killed Kumar and revealed the names of his two accomplices. Chandra Layout police arrested them and are investigating.
In the third incident, a 22-year-old cook, employed at a women’s paying guest home, was bludgeoned to death by the building’s security guard at BTM Layout on Monday night. Pappu Kumar, a native of Bihar, was working at the home in Maruti Nagar. The police said that the incident came to light on Tuesday morning.
It was said that the accused Mahesh, who also hails from Bihar, picked up a quarrel with Pappu on Monday night, which led to the murder.