Representative image of an arrest.
Credit: iStock Photo
Bengaluru: The Cottonpet police have cracked the murder and robbery of a woman at her house in western Bengaluru, and arrested one of her relatives and his friend in the case, police officials said on Thursday.
The arrested suspects — who investigators identified as Purandar, 42, a relative of the victim, Latha, and his friend Shivappa, 35 — allegedly committed the crime after losing money in a scam. All three, including the victim, are from Bidar.
The two suspects worked as electricians at a private pharmaceutical company in Bidar, the police said.
“Preliminary investigation has revealed that the two suspects lost cash in a rice-pulling scam and hence, required money,” a senior officer said.
The police said that on May 26, the two arrived at Latha’s home in PS Lane, Cottonpet. Since Purandar occasionally visited her, she let them in and served them breakfast.
Investigations revealed that Latha was strangled, as there were no murder weapons found at the crime scene. Since no weapons were used, the police suspect it may not have been a premeditated murder.
“They fled with around 100 grams of gold and Rs 1.50 lakh in cash,” an investigator said. “Investigations revealed that they arrived in Bengaluru the same morning by a KSRTC bus from Bidar and headed straight to the victim’s house.”
Latha’s body was discovered near the kitchen by her husband, Prakash S Mehtre, when he returned home around 2 pm. Mehtre, 55, owns an apparel store in Upparpet.
The couple had been residing in Bengaluru for more than a decade. They have a daughter who works in a private company and a son studying in high school.
“The circumstances of the murder will have to be reconstructed to understand what actually transpired between the suspects and Latha at the house before the murder,” an officer added.