CHENNAI: A 60-year-old woman of Chennai was murdered in Bengaluru and her body was burnt before being dumped on the roadside bushes. A Bengaluru-based realtor has been arrested in this connection, police said.The woman went missing on August 4 and her brother lodged a complaint a week later. On Tuesday, police found she had been murdered.
Police identified the deceased as Vijayalakshmi, a widow who was living with her brother Sugumaran (63) at Madipakkam. She owned a house at KR Puram in Bengaluru and wanted to sell it, police said.
“On August 4, she had told her brother that she was going to visit an advocate at Mylapore regarding an ongoing case over another property. By late evening, she had told her brother that she was going to Bengaluru with the realtor Baskar as a new offer had come for the property,” said a police officer.
Since Sugumaran did not hear from her for more than two days, he contacted Baskar who said he did not meet Vijayalakshmi.“After contacting some friends and relatives in Bengaluru, Sugumaran lodged a complaint with Madipakkam police on August 12. A special team was formed. “We interrogated the lawyer and some of her contacts whom she came across in selling the property,” the officer said.
After going through phone records, police found that Vijayalakshmi had called Baskar before calling Sugumaran. Baskar didn’t budge and said she used to call often to sell the house.
He was brought to Chennai from Bengaluru. After much grilling, he is said to have spilled the beans. Baskar had said Vijayalakshmi was trying to sell the house for two years. Though there were no takers to buy it at `1.2 crore that she quoted, she refused to reduce it. Baskar had already taken an advance from a prospective buyer after promising to finish the deal at a lower price,” said police.
On August 4, as Vijayalakshmi was on the way to meet the lawyer at Mylapore, Baskar who had come to Chennai contacted. He told her that his friend was willing to buy the house for `1.2 crore, and insisted on finishing the deal immediately.
Baskar picked up Vijayalakshmi in his car. He allegedly served her juice mixed with sleeping pills. When he tried to wake her up after reaching Bengaluru, there was no response. “Realising that she died, Baskar dumped her body on roadside bushes, at a village in Kolar and burnt it with kerosene,” the officer said. Since the murder happened in Karnataka, Baskar was handed over to Karnataka police.