Auto driver's throat slit by killers hired by wife's lover

Three passengers of an auto-rickshaw killed its driver by slitting his throat in eastern Bengaluru on Wednesday. Police said they had reasons to believe that the killers were hired by the lover of the victim’s wife.

The killers hired the auto of Vinod N alias Gunda, 35, around 9.15 am to go to Shampura railway gate in DJ Halli. But once their destination neared, the trio attacked Vinod with knives and slit his throat before fleeing the spot, said S D Sharanappa, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East).

A preliminary investigation found that Vinod’s wife, Anitha, had gone missing last October and that he had filed a missing person complaint. She was traced only last month. The couple had been married for 12 years and has three children.

Sharanappa said they had picked up a man named Narayana Gowda for questioning. The officer said Gowda had a “close relationship” with Anitha and there were reasons to believe that he had hired a contract killer named Raja to kill Vinod.

“Gowda basically wanted to get rid of Vinod so that he could continue the affair with Anitha,” the officer said, adding that efforts were ongoing to track down Raja who hails from Vijayawada.