Triple murder ‘kingpin’ arrested
Killers paid Rs 3 lakh to eliminate Rahul Das; another accused at large
The Ramamurthy Nagar triple murder of the Rahul Das couple and their eight-year-old daughter has turned out to be a contract killing and not a simple murder for gain.
The City police have arrested the ‘kingpin’ but one more accused is still eluding the police net.
The alleged killers, Lokesh, Raju and Murali, have already been arrested.
On October 24, interior designer Rahul Das (45), his wife Pushpalatha (39) and daughter Agnesha were found smothered to death and their bodies dumped in the bathtub at their residence in Jayanthinagar Layout.
Six days later, the City’s top cops had claimed that the case was ‘cracked’ as a murder for gain. Lokesh, Raju and Murali were arrested in connection with the crime. Now, the police have found a new twist and arrested Ramesh, the couple’s former landlord, for hiring contract killers to do away with Rahul. Sources said Ramesh gave the ‘supari’ to the arrested trio as he had allegedly an extramarital affair with Pushpalatha and was very possessive about her.
The four arrests apart, hunt is on for another accused. According to the police, Ramesh, a realtor, had four houses on Bazar lane in Ramamurthynagar. Rahul Das took one of the houses on rent in 2001 and became friends with the landlord. Eventually, Ramesh and Pushpalatha grew close and allegedly started an extramarital affair, added the police.
Things were smooth till differences of opinion cropped up between Rahul and Ramesh. Rahul constructed a house on the second main road in Jayanthinagar and shifted there. This created problems for Ramesh and Pushpalatha as they could not meet frequently. Hence, Ramesh decided to eliminate Rahul, added the police.
Ramesh contacted Lokesh, who was a driver with Rahul, and offered him Rs 3 lakh ‘supari’ to eliminate Rahul. He also suggested Lokesh to take away jewellery from the house before escaping.
Accordingly, he allegedly hacked Rahul to death. Pushpalatha and her daughter Agneesha saw Lokesh after the act. Fearing that the two would be vital witnesses to the crime, Lokesh killed them as well with the help of his associates, said the police.
