Three from AP arrested for murdering physiotherapist

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Soladevanahalli police cracked the murder case of a physiotherapist after a month and arrested three persons in connection with an alleged abduction and murder in the city.

The accused have been identified by the police as Veeranjeneyalu, Govardhan and Buddappa, all natives of Andhra Pradesh. Sridhar, a resident of Yelahanka, was a physiotherapist working for a private hospital in Bengaluru.

According to sources, Sridhar went missing on February 7 and a day later his burnt body was found by a landlord at his grove in Soladevanahalli, who alerted the jurisdictional police about it. As the identity of the deceased couldnt be ascertained that time, the police had registered a 'suspicious death' case. Two days later while examining samples including burnt clothes, the police found a half-burnt card with the details of a private hospital.

On further probe, it was found that the deceased person was a physiotherapist. Police inspector Gautham attached to Soladevanahalli police, formed a team to find the relatives of the deceased in the city. One of the teams managed to ascertain the identity of the deceased as Sridhar. Later the cops summoned Sridhar's brother who confirmed that the body was Sridhar's.

The police launched a manhunt to nab the accused and found that the person was murdered due to an old grudge. It was revealed that Sridhar was addicted to alcohol and was a regular visitor of a bar. A month before his murder, a drunk Sridhar had fought with another person, Veeranjeneyalu, in the bar over petty issues and had threatened to kill him with a stone.

However, Veeranjeneyalu took the threats seriously and began a plot to murder Sridhar. With the help of his friends Govardhan and Buddappa, Veeranjeneyalu abducted Sridhar and took him to a house in Kempapura.

The trio made him drink to his full and then attacked him with a machete killing him. Later they allegedly carried his body to a grove, poured petrol and set it on fire, the police said.