The death of a 22-year-old man at Kukkehalli in Udupi district in September, which was suspected to be a suicide case, has now turned out to be a case of murder after a detailed police investigation. Police sources said the youth, Kritik J Salian, was found hanging from a tree in a forest area between Kukkehalli and Baje on September 14. A suicide note was also found and it was thought to be a case of suicide.
However, family members of the youth, who grew suspicious about the withdrawal of lakhs of rupees from his bank account, filed a complaint with the police. A detailed investigation by the police revealed that Salian was murdered and identified the accused as Dinesh Safaliga (44), a distant relative of the deceased. Safaliga, who was working in a hotel in Mumbai, had taken Rs 9 lakh at different times from Salian, but had failed to repay the amount.
The accused, who came to know that Salian was in love with a woman and was keen to marry her, allegedly hatched a plan to get rid of him. Safaliga prompted Salian to enact a suicide drama which would be shot on camera and sent to the woman for getting her consent for the marriage. The man asked Salian to write a suicide note and put it in his trouser pocket and brought him to a forest area at Kokkehalli near Baje. The accused lowered the noose from the branch of a tree and put the noose around Salian's neck. Stones were laid below to make the latter believe that it is a fake act. Once the noose was around Salian’s neck, the accused removed the stones leaving him to hang to death, the sources said.
The accused Dinesh Safaliga has been arrested. Hiriyadka police are conducting further investigations, sources said.
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