Three arrested for elderly woman's murder

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: Three people have been arrested by the city police here in connection with the murder of an 82-year-old woman in Mahalakshmi Layout recently. The accused were identified as Ashok, 40, Siddaraju, 34, and Anjana Murthy. Police sources said that Ashok is the prime suspect in the case, while his friends Siddaraju and Murthy had helped him in the crime.

The trio planned to rob 82-year-old Kamala N Rao, after learning that she lived alone in the house. The accused were nabbed from Mysuru where they had been hiding since the murder came to light. The Mahalakshmi Layout police brought them to Bengaluru and arrested them. Siddaraju and Anjana Murthy are autorickshaw drivers while Ashok is a plumber.

It has been revealed that Ashok visited Kamala's house for repairing a water pipe three months ago and had observed that she lived alone, and also that she was wearing expensive jewellery. Deep in debts because of his gambling addiction, Ashok hatched a plan to rob the woman of her valuables and shared it with Siddaraju and Anjana Murthy who promised to help him.

According to the police, the perpetrators did a recce of Kamala's house to recheck if someone visits her before deciding to attack her. On the day of the murder, the accused visited Kamala’s house twice. At first in the morning, they visited her house on the pretext of looking for a rented place. Kamala had refused to show them the house. The accused visited Kamala’s house again in the evening and assaulted her while she was talking to them.

"The accused tied her hands and legs, and stuffed a cloth into the woman's mouth following which she suffocated and died. The men stole valuables including gold chains and bangles from the house and fled," an officer from the jurisdictional police station told News Trail. Kamala's murder shocked her neighbours.

Her son, Guruprasad, who was living separately with his family registered a complaint with the police after the incident. Footage from CCTV cameras installed in the area was collected to identify the perpetrators and shared with different police stations.