Shanu Begum (47) from Arasikere, was married and had two sons. She was living in KR Puram with her relatives. According to police, four years ago, Begum separated from her husband whose business failed 15 years ago which led him into a depression. Her eldest son, Shahid (24), is married and has settled down in Tumkur, while her second son Firoz (17) is an SSLC student in Bangalore.
The mobile recharge shop on St John’s Road belongs to Ashok Kumar Jain, whose brother is a businessman in Arasikere. Jain’s brother helped Begum to come to Bangalore and find a job in Ashok’s shop, Punit Telecom.
Police said, Begum opened the shop around 9 am on Friday, as usual. There was heavy rush of customers who had come for recharge. Sohail, a neighbouring shopowner also came for a recharge.
Begum reprotedly asked him for Rs 5,000 which she needed urgently. Sohail told her he would give the money later and came outside and sat in an autorickshaw of his friend, Akbar, near Jain’s shop and started chatting with him, said the police.
Three women and two college students went inside and returned. Within minutes, Begum came outside running towards Akbar’s auto crying for help. Before he could rush to her rescue, she collapsed and died. Sohail immediately informed the police.
The police suspect the murderer was alone and used a sharp weapon. Begum’s throat was slit once, but the slash was enough to kill her. No customer was in the shop when the murder took place. Police have got some clues they are working on, said Pulikeshinagar sub-division ACP B B Ashok Kumar. Although Begum’s husband was pressing her to return to Arasikere, his role in the murder is remote, police added.
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