Cops track down killers from letter in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: The Cubbon Park police cracked a nine-month-old murder case, and arrested five persons. An anonymous letter helped solve the mystery.

The accused are Chalapathy Agalagurki alias Venkata Chalapathy, an office-bearer of a Kannada organisation, his son AV Sharath Kumar, Dhanush K, Shridhar R, all residents of Chikkaballapura, and MP Manjunath of Yelahanka.

They are accused of murdering H Sharath Kumar, a resident of Konanakunte. ACP of Cubbon Park sub-division DS Rajendra had received an anonymous letter about a week ago, stating the accused persons had murdered Kumar. The police picked up AV Sharath Kumar for questioning, and he reportedly admitted to the crime. Based on his information, four others were held, while three others involved in the case are absconding.

“The deceased had borrowed money from many residents in Chikkaballapura and Yelahanka, claiming he will get them a car under a government scheme. No one ever got a car, and the money was not returned. The cheated persons approached Chalapathy, requesting him to help them recover the money. He entrusted the job to his son, who along with his associates, kidnapped the victim from Banashankari in March,” the police said.

“The accused took him to their farmhouses in Chikkaballapura, where he was tortured for almost a week, which led to his death. The accused disposed of his body at Charmadi Ghat in Chikkamagaluru the same month. They had sent a message from the victim’s phone to his father, stating he will be out of the state for money and not to search for him. The victim had some cheating cases against him in Bengaluru, and so, his family members did not check on his whereabouts or file a missing person’s report,” the police added.