Double murder in the city over property issue, say police

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A day after the double murder case in the city, the eyewitnesses recounted the horrifying scene of two senior citizens getting stabbed to death in the Kumbarpet area here.

Speaking to News Trail, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru Central Division, Shekhar Shekhar H Tekkannavar on Thursday confirmed that the accused, identified as Bhadra alias Badri Prasad BS, 55, voluntarily surrendered himself to the cops at Halasuru Gate Police Station, following the heinous act.

The deceased were identified by the police as Suresh BL, 62, and his friend Mahendra, 60.

Initial investigations suggest that the motive behind the gruesome act to be a long-standing property dispute between the accused Badri and Suresh, who are said to be relatives.

Mahendra was however killed for trying to stop the fight between the two, police said.

It was revealed that the accused had filed cases against Suresh in local courts stating that he was still controlling the trust’s affairs despite being ousted and a new trust being formed.

Suresh was an extrustee of the trust formed by members of the Kumbara artisan community classified under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Karnataka.

Suresh Kumar, the proprietor of a three-storied commercial building where the tragedy unfolded, found himself at odds with Badri, who purportedly sought to transfer the property to a trust associated with his potter community.

The eyewitnesses said that the incident took place around 8:20 pm at a shop named Shri Hari Enterprises on Kumbarpet Main Road.

The accused demanded to talk to Suresh but after a few minutes he suddenly began stabbing Suresh in the neck with a knife that he had brought beforehand.

The other victim, Mahendra rushed to rescue Suresh after hearing the latter's screams but Badri chased him out of the shop and stabbed him as well.

The accused along with another person managed to run away from the spot soon after the incident. The accused himself called up the Halasuru Police and surrendered.

The police later obtained the CCTV footage of the incident from the DVR installed at the shop. Following post-mortem analysis at Victoria Hospital, the bodies were handed over to the relatives of the deceased on Thursday.

Possible motives

Sources said that Badri and Suresh were part of a trust and were involved in a legal battle for several years over a building. The court had recently pronounced the verdict in favour of Suresh.

This angered Badri who wanted to take revenge on Suresh. Another angle of investigation that is underway is that Badri’s wife had left him and was staying separately.

He had suspected that his wife was misguided by Suresh and wanted revenge. Further probe is underway