Mangaluru: Mangaluru City police have taken a three-year-old murder case to its logical end with the arrest of the accused from
Haryana on March 8. Personnel from Mangaluru East police station led by police inspector Maruti G Naik and staff, based on a clue about the presence of the accused in the case registered in Mangaluru East police station on March 13, 2015, went to Brahmasarovar in Kurukshetra in Haryana and detained accused Rothas with help from local police.
City police chief T R Suresh said police recovered the body of Ashok Kumar, 53, the driver of a goods lorry, in the cabin of the vehicle bearing Haryana state registration, belonging to Himalaya Roadlines at Nanthoor Padavu on December 16, 2014. The body was in a decomposed state, Suresh said, adding an unnatural death report case was initially registered in Mangaluru East police station on December 20. Subsequent investigations and forensic reports suggested that Ashok was murdered.
Police on March 13, 2015, registered a case of murder based on new evidence and eyewitness accounts, and were on the lookout for Rothas, the co-driver, in this connection. Rothas had wrapped up the dead body in a bed sheet and left it in the cabin of the vehicle before fleeing the scene. Police had failed to nab Rothas till March 8, when a tip-off led them to Haryana. Rothas, who was produced before the 2nd JMFC court, has been remanded in police custody.
