SIDDAPURA (UTTARA KANNADA): A feast organised by a person to celebrate Karthik Masa (auspicious month as per Hindu Calendar) has helped solve a murder mystery in Siddapura in Uttara Kannada district.
It has come to light that the host of the feast, Abhijit Madiwal, is the accused in the murder of an elderly woman who worked as a pygmy collector and had decamped with over Rs 20,000 cash and jewellery.
On December 25, 2024, the Siddapura police found a woman murdered in her house which was locked from inside. The victim is 72-year-old Geetha Hundekar, who was living alone. Her husband died many years ago and her two daughters are married and live in distant places.
According to the police, the accused entered the house by removing the roof tiles of the bathroom, murdered her and decamped with the money which Geetha had collected the previous day. The murder came to light when the neighbours observed that the house was locked from inside and a bottle of milk placed at her doorstep remained untouched, following which they informed her relatives and the police.
The Siddapura police registered a case of murder and started the investigation. They were looking for clues and came to know about a grand feast organised by Abhijeet’s family for the people of his locality. The host was auto driver Madiwal, who was earlier struggling to earn money since the last couple of weeks.
“We learnt that the victim had no enemies and she was a woman with self-respect. She worked as a pygmy collector at a private bank. She collected Rs 20,000 daily by evening from small businessmen and kept it with her until the next day before depositing it in the bank,” informed the police.
Accordingly, the police said that the accused, a habitual offender and an auto driver, was arrested for several petty crimes like entering into a brawl, threatening, fighting and even thefts in the past.
“After enquiring about the feast from his neighbours, he was summoned for interrogation. The needle of suspicion pointed towards him because he always organised a feast whenever he did a crime. It appears that he did this to overcome his guilt,” said a police source.
During interrogation, the accused said that he borrowed the money from his friend in Shivamogga. When the police summoned the friend, he denied that he had any business with him nor he has paid him any money. The accused finally admitted to murdering Geetha and taking away Rs 20,680 from her, of which he had spent Rs 19,280 on the non-vegetarian feast.
He also admitted to stealing some gold jewellery and keeping a portion of it at his home, while pledging some at a gold loan company. Uttara Kannada SP Narayan has lauded the efforts of the investigating team and announced a reward.