Murder most foul: Guard killed in front of daughters

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: It was well past midnight when Ramachandra, who owns a building in Srigandha Layout, Yelahanka New Town, heard a knock on his door. He found the daughters of his tenant, Deepak Kumar Singh, standing outside, crying that their father had been attacked by four men. He rushed upstairs and found Singh lying in a pool of blood. “We alerted the police immediately. One of the girls is a PUC student and the other studies in fourth standard. They said they didn’t recognize the people who attacked their father,” said Ramachandra. The victim and his family have been living in that house for the past one year.

Why was a man who didn’t seem to have any enemies, murdered in his house, in front of his daughters? As police began their investigation, startling details came to light. For the last 18 months, the victim, Singh, had been molesting his older daughter . The daughter told her mother what was happening and the couple would fight frequently over the matter. Traumatised by the abuse, the girl also revealed her plight to her college friends. On Sunday night, Singh, who was allegedly drunk, tried to assault his daughter once more. That’s when the accused barged into the house and hacked him to death. Deepak Kumar Singh hails from Bihar and was living in the First Cross, Srigandha Layout. The 46-year-old worked as a security guard in GKVK. On Saturday, his wife left to see her parents in Bihar and he was alone in the house with his two daughters. Singh has been in the city for a few years and allegedly had two wives. The other wife lives in Bihar. The exact reasons for the murder will be ascertained after the accused are in police custody. Police suspect that the murder was planned out by a friend of the daughter, who barged into the victim’s house along with three friends, all armed with lethal weapons. The incident took place at around 12.30 am on Monday. In order to corroborate the daughter’s claim, police are in the process of questioning the security guard’s wife, who left town to Bihar just before the murder.

“Two teams have been formed to arrest the four accused. The incident happened at around 12.30 am. A spot inspection has been done and more details about the incident has been found,” C.K. Baba, DCP, North East division told the media.

The Yelahanka New Town police have registered a case of murder under section 320 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and are further investigating.