Vishala Ganiga murder case: One more arrested in Udupi

UDUPI: The Udupi police have arrested an alleged contract killer in connection with the Vishala Ganiga murder case reported in the Bramhavar police station limits on July 12.
The arrested accused is Swaminath Nishad,38, from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. He along with another contract killer had allegedly strangled 35-year-old Vishala by using a power cable at her apartment. Superintendent of police N Vishnuvardhan expressed confidence in arresting the other accused at the earliest.
Early during the week, the police arrested Ramakrishna Ganiga,42, on the charge of planning the murder. He is the personal assistant to an NRI entrepreneur in Dubai. Ramakrishna returned to Udupi, following the death of his wife. Preliminary investigation revealed that he gave a supari (contract) of more than Rs 2 lakh to get his wife eliminated. Another accused, a friend of Ramakrishna, had introduced the killers to him, and the police have obtained leads about the friend, the SP told reporters.
Meanwhile, a senior officer investigating the case said, “The murder motive is yet to be ascertained. Though the victim’s husband is claiming that their relationship had turned sour, we have certain leads that he was allegedly active on certain matrimonial websites. He has been planning the murder since February. During his visit to Udupi between February and March 27, the killers were also in Brahmavar, and he had shown the house and introduced his wife to them,” an officer said.
It was a meticulously planned murder. His wife and daughter returned on June 29 to Udupi. In the meantime, on July 3, he sent a friend to the flat to collect a parcel from his wife, just to be sure that she would follow his instructions. Similarly, On July 11, Ramakrishna called his wife from Dubai, and told her to send her parents and daughter back to Byndoor the next day. They were staying with her for the past three days. He said that another friend would be coming to give her a parcel. After confirming that she was in the apartment, he passed on the message to the killers, stated sources.
Though the building had no CCTV cameras, the police have examined footage from more than 60 CCTV cameras from the surrounding areas. Following the murder, The SP had constituted nearly five teams to investigate the case. DG&IGP Praveen Sood announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for the team involved in solving the case, and IGP Western Range Devajyoti Ray has issued a commendation certificate to the team members.