The Kodigehalli police have cracked the murder case of an elderly couple and arrested a 22-year-old cab driver who committed the crime to rob their valuables and pay off his loan.
The accused, Venkatesh, a resident of Misaganahalli, was arrested based on the circumstantial evidence gathered by the police during the course of the investigations.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East) P.S. Harsha said that the accused is a cab driver of Nishanth, a close friend of the younger son of the couple and used to visit their house frequently with his employer.
Venkatesh noticed Muniyappa (68), a retired Assistant Controller of GKVK, and his wife Varalakshmi living in a duplex house in Byatarayanapura while their three sons lived separately in various parts of the city. Venkatesh, who was heavily in debt, noticed that Varalakshmi used to wear a lot of gold ornaments and Muniyappa was involved in huge money transactions through his money lending business.
Venkatesh decided to eliminate the couple to clear his debts. As per the plan, on July 5, he visited the couple’s house on the pretext of discussing about a prospective bride for their younger son. After few minutes of conversation, Venkatesh overpowered Muniyappa and slit his throat with a knife which he had bought from a hardware shop from his hometown. He then went to the first floor of the house where Varalakshmi was attending to a daily chore and killed her in similar manner.
Venkatesh then removed the gold valuables from Varalakshmi’s body and ransacked the house to look for cash and gold. He soon escaped with the valuables after locking the house from the outside. While coming out, some neighbours noticed him and later informed the police during the course of the investigations.
The police who gathered details about the accused nabbed him from his home town and recovered the gold valuables which he had pawned for Rs. 1,02,000 to clear his debts.
The police have charged Venkatesh with murder and taken him into custody for further investigations.
