Mystery amid breakthrough
Mystery continued to shroud the triple murder case that shook Bangalore last week, even as the City police made some initial breakthrough in the investigations with the arrest of three persons, Lokeshwar, Rajappa and Murli.
Police sources told Deccan Herald that the three persons, all in their late 20s, had committed the murders on October 20. The gruesome murders might have been committed for “gain”, said the police sources, though they also felt there were many loose ends yet to be tied.
On October 24, the police had found the decomposed bodies of Rahul Das (45), an interior designer, his wife Pushpalatha (39) and their daughter Agnesha at their Jayanthi Gram Layout in Ramamurthy Nagar.
Rahul, who hailed from the Northeast, was residing in Bangalore for the last 11 years and was successfully running the business (Delta System) while his wife was a homemaker. Their daughter was a 4th class student in Devematha Central School.
It wasn’t difficult for the threesome to enter Rahul’s house, as Lokeshwar, a resident of Horamavu, was known to him. He was working with Rahul’s firm. Apparently, he had parted company with Rahul and took up job elsewhere as a driver due to some differences with him. Lokeshwar continued to have links with the Rahul’s office as he was close to the office receptionist Pramila.
The three alleged perpetrators of the crime would not have murdered Pushpalatha and Agnesha, as only Rahul was at home when they came calling the businessman.
Pushapatha had taken their daughter for a swimming class but Rahul called them back home to share the “good news” that Lokeshwar had found a maidservant for the family.
The sources said the trio had taken away gold worth Rs 4-5 lakh and around Rs 11,000 in cash from Rahul’s home after committing the triple murder.
However, it wasn’t clear why the trio had prompted Rahul to call his wife and daughter home if their motive was just “gain.”
The sources believe that the three alleged murderers might have done the wife and the daughter to death just to ensure that they did not leave behind any evidence.
Unanswered questions
However, at least three questions are yet to be conclusively answered.
First, the police were initially suspecting the role of a youth from Malleswaram, who has been allegedly very close to Pushpalatha.
Hours before the crime, Pushpalatha had sent over 40 text messages to him. The youth, an insurance advisor, was interrogated by the police during which he apparently confessed to his proximity to the lady.
According to his confessions, Pushpalatha had, at one point, even told him to marry her. He apparently had also told her that Rahul was having affairs with at least two women. Apparently, the husband and wife were living “separately” but under the same roof.
Second, the police have also dug into Rahul’s business deals and partners for vital clues to the murder. In the course of this line of investigation, it was found that Rahul had problems with his one-time business partner Shekar.
They had split over their differences but, more recently, Shekar was keen to revive their partnership. Three months back, he had apparently even threatened Rahul and gave him an ultimatum to revive their partnership. It wasn’t clear if this had any bearing on the crime.
Third, the police are also yet to identity the woman who had answered Rahul’s father’s phone call on Rahul’s landline two days after the murder. The woman took the call, just said ‘hello’ and then terminated the call.
