Dreaded killer Umesh Reddy profiled in OTT series

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Recently, Netflix released the trailer of the fourth part of ‘Indian Predators’, a true crime documentary series. Titled the ‘Beast of Bangalore’, the documentary series will delve into the gruesome killings by Umesh Reddy, a former cop turned predator.

Set to be out in Netflix on December 16, the trailer captures the mood of the grisly murders of women that happened in Karnataka during the 90s. An excerpt from the trailer where one goes, “The practice of installing grills on main doors started only after this story came. Bangalore suddenly started looking very dangerous,” is enough to understand the gruesomeness of the crime.

The person behind these killings BA Umesh alias Umesh Reddy was a former cop, who managed to dodge the police five times. During investigations by the cops, Reddy revealed that he would target single women, widows and housewives after keenly observing them for long durations.

He would then enter their houses on the pretext of seeking water or a place to rent. He would do so during afternoons, when the man of the house would most likely be out for work. He tortured his victims and would rape them after they fell unconscious or died, later escaping with valuables, money and the victim’s innerwear.

It is said that the police recovered two kg of gold and a bag full of women’s lingerie when they tracked down a rented house Reddy was living in. He also is said to have enjoyed wearing the clothes of his victims. According to police reports, Reddy joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in 1996, and was posted as a guard at the house of a commandant in Jammu and Kashmir.

He attempted to rape the officer’s daughter and was arrested, but was successful at escaping. He then returned to Chitradurga and joined the District Armed Reserve (DAR) Police and was later dismissed on the charges of rape.

Reddy’s work experience provided him an insight into the workings of the police department and allowed him to cover his tracks. Losing luck, he was finally caught in 2002 in Yeshwantpur. Reddy was convicted in relation to nine cases and was sentenced to death by a sessions court in Bengaluru in the year 2006, for rape and murder of a 37-year-old woman in Peenya, his first victim.

He has been in Belagavi jail since November 6, 2011. However, in November this year, the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence and converted the punishment to a 30 year life imprisonmen