MADIKERI: The Kodagu police have cracked a sensational murder and arrested three accused for the murder of a Hyderabad man, whose burnt body was found at a private estate in Suntikoppa in Kodagu on October 8.
While the murder took place in Hyderabad, the victim’s body was found in Suntikoppa. The police, who had got several clues from the crime spot, succeeded in solving the case within 18 days of the incident.
The body of an unidentified man was found at the estate on October 8. SP K Ramarajan, who visited the spot, had said they had got several clues from the spot. He had formed a special investigation team to solve the case.
The arrested have been identified as Niharika P (29), who hailed from Telangana and a resident of Bengaluru, her boyfriend Ankur Rana (30) of Haryana and Nikhil Maireddy (28) of Bengaluru. The victim was Ramesh Kumar (54) of Hyderabad. Police sources said Niharika was the second wife of Ramesh. She planned the murder along with her boyfriend Ankur to get properties worth Rs 8 crore of her husband, they revealed.
On October 1, Niharika asked Ankur to reach Hyderabad from Haryana. On October 3, she asked Ramesh to pick her up from Uppal-Bhyvanagiri on NH-163 in Hyderabad. But she was joined by Ankur and they both allegedly murdered Ramesh. They then shifted the body to Bengaluru. Later, Niharika’s other friend Nikhil helped her dispose of the body. Nikhil allegedly took the body to Suntikoppa, where Ramesh’s burnt body was found in the estate.
The first big breakthrough came with the arrest of Niharika and Nikhil on October 22. The police later arrested Ankur from Uttar Pradesh on October 25. The car, mobile phones and other items used in the crime have been seized by the police.
Muddu Madeva, inspector, Somwarpet police station, was the special investigator. The investigation is continuing further. SP Ramarajan told the media on Saturday that the case was challenging as it was hard to establish the identity of the victim. However, after collecting information of missing persons from neighbouring districts and states, the body was identified as that of Ramesh. During the investigation, footage from over 500 CCTV cameras were checked.
