BENGALURU: A 45-year-old woman, who used to sell beer illegally at her condiments store to make some quick money, paid a heavy price when one of her customers murdered her for gain. The customer and his two associates, including a minor boy, were arrested by Ramanagara police.
The victim was identified as Kempamma, a resident of Ramanagara. They murdered Kempamma around 4.45pm on September 8, when she had gone to bring back her cattle left for grazing. After killing her, they robbed her of the gold ornaments she was wearing. They packed the body in a plastic bag and threw it into the Arkavathy lake. When she did not return home, her husband, Kenchappa (50), called her. The mobile rang twice or thrice, and was later switched off.
Suspecting foul play, Kenchappa and his sons went in search of her, and saw a plastic bag on the lake bed. When they untied the bag, they found Kempamma’s body. The accused, after pushing her down from behind, had strangled her to death with a wire.
They were identified as G Lingaraju, 19, C Ravi, 20, residents of Achalu Colony who were working in private factories. The third accused is a minor aged 17. Police recovered Rs 51,000 worth of gold ornaments and a mobile phone from them.