Co-op bank manager 'killed' by man whom he lent Rs 1.05 crore

A 55-year-old manager of a co-operative bank, believed to have committed suicide on August 16, was actually strangled by a real estate agent who had borrowed Rs 1.05 crore from him. The suspect roped in three of his associates to make the murder look like a suicide, police said. 

Muniyappa, of Matadahalli in RT Nagar, was found dead in his car near Malagala underpass, West Bengaluru. A poison bottle was found next to his body and the death had all the trappings of a suicide. His wife, however, suspected foul play and filed a complaint of murder at the jurisdictional Kamakshipalya police station. 

The first clue in the murder investigation came when police learnt that Muniyappa dealt in arbitrage loans — borrowing money at low interest and lending it at a higher rate. The second clue was that Muniyappa had loaned Rs 1.05 crore to Tilak Bandi Kempegowda (36), a real estate agent, loan mediator and broker from Sunkadakatte, since 2014. Police also learnt that Kempegowda had neither repaid the principal nor the interest. 

Muniyappa was under pressure as he had to pay Rs 22 lakh as interest every month to his lenders. Fifteen days before the murder, he quarrelled with Kempegowda and demanded that he repay the money. He even threatened to commit suicide if Kempegowda failed to repay. 

Hatched a plot

Kempegowda allegedly hatched a plot to murder Muniyappa and pass it off as a suicide. He roped in three people — Pradeep alias Bully (25), Mahesh alias Appi (24), who both work at his poultry farm near Hindalgere, and Abhilash Gowda (25), an auto-rickshaw driver from Hegganahalli. 

Kempegowda and Pradeep bought an insecticide named Action 505. On August 15, Kempegowda called Muniyappa to Mariyappanapalya, saying he wanted to repay part of the loan. Muniyappa drove there. Pradeep got in his car and asked him to drive to Kempegowda’s guest house in Byatarayanadoddi. 

Meanwhile, Mahesh and Abhilash bought syringes, gloves and socks, and reached the guest house. Once Muniyappa arrived there, they all tied him up and poured the insecticide down his throat. Muniyappa, however, spat it out. Pradeep then strangled him with a rope. The trio stuffed the body in Muniyappa’s car and drove to Malagala where they abandoned the vehicle and fled.

Their scheme was, however, undone by the post-mortem report which concluded that Muniyappa had asphyxiated to death. Police reviewed a staggering 600 GB of CCTV footage to nail the suspects.