BENGALURU: A 56-year-old woman was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by her neighbours over a financial dispute in Mahalakshmi Layout.
The woman was taken away on the pretext of going on a trip. When she didn’t return on Friday, her son approached police and a missing person’s complaint was registered. Police found her charred body near Mandya on Sunday. The victim has been identified as Thimmamma, a resident of Mahalakshmi Layout, who used to run a chit fund business.
A senior police officer said that Thimmamma had loaned money to Sheela, who also ran a chit fund business. Sheela and her paramour Arun, a habitual offender, hatched a plan to kidnap Thimmamma.
On Thursday afternoon, Sheela visited Thimmamma and told her that she was planning a trip to Mysuru and said she would repay the money in Mysuru. Thimmamma agreed to go with them. But Thimmamma’s family was unaware that she had decided to go with Sheela to Mysuru.
Sheela, Thimmamma and Arun drove to Mysuru on Thursday evening. On the way, they stopped the car and the duo smothered Thimmamma. They snatched her gold chains and and, on the way back to Bengaluru, they dumped Thimmamma’s body at Anekere village near Mandya. They then set the body on fire.
Police found her body near Mandya. They searched through Thimmamma’s phone records and found Sheela’s number. Police then arrested Sheela and she confessed to the crime. She told police that they decided to kidnap Thimmamma over a financial dispute. Arun is still at large and police suspect more people were involved in the crime.