Bengaluru double murder: Police arrest Insta influencer, 2 others but kingpin at large

According to the police, Phanindra had an argument with officials in a competing company, Gnet Broadband, recently and he used to get threatening calls regularly.

Police have arrested three suspects over the macabre double murder reported from northeastern Bengaluru on Tuesday.

However, the owner of a broadband company and the likely kingpin remains at large, according to police.

Police said they picked up Shabarish alias 'Joker' Felix, 27, Santosh alias Santu, 26, and Vinay Reddy, 23, from SKN Lodge in Kunigal, Tumakuru district, on Tuesday night, just seven hours after the murders.

Felix is a Kannada rapper and fashion model, and has more than 16,000 followers on Instagram. Barely two hours before the arrest, he posted a media report of the murders on Instagram.

The three-member gang is accused of fatally hacking Phanindra Subramanya (36), the MD of fibrenet company Aironics Media Pvt Ltd, and Vinu Kumar (47), its CEO, at the firm's office located in Pampa Extension, Hebbal-Kempapura, around 3.30 pm on Tuesday.

A senior officer overseeing the investigation reiterated that business rivalry was the most likely motive for the crimes.

Subramanya and Kumar previously worked for Gnet Broadband, Bannerghatta Road. But last November, they founded their own company Aironics Media Pvt Ltd, hiring nearly all of Gnet's staff and offering aggressive broadband plans. Within a short span of time, Aironics was able to attract a large number of Gnet's customers.

Gnet Broadband's owner, Arun Kumar Azad, felt his business was under threat. A police officer said that a Gnet official had picked a fight with Subramanya and had repeatedly threatened to get him killed.

An Aironics employee and an eyewitness in the case said: "When Phanindra’s firm started growing and employees willingly joined Aironics, Arun Kumar Azad told his employees he would stab Phanindra to death."

A few months ago, Azad had an argument with Subramanya and vowed that he wouldn’t spare him at any cost and he would stab him all over his body, the employee said.

The police officer quoted above said Azad had been named in the FIR as the fourth suspect. "He is absconding. We are hunting for him," the officer said.

Felix and Santosh are Gnet employees. Reddy is Felix's friend. Felix is from Chikkanahalli. Santosh and Reddy live in Marenahalli and Rupena Agrahara, respectively.

While the three men reached the Aironics office on two motorcycles, they abandoned them and fled on foot. They later got into a car and drove to Majestic. Afterwards, they boarded a train to Kunigal and checked into a lodge there.

Police used CCTV footage and mobile phone network data to trace them.

"We have video evidence of their involvement in the crime. We will ask the court for their custody and interrogate them to get more details," the officer said.

Police sources said weapons used in the crime (daggers and knives) were yet to be retrieved.

"These days, daggers are available on online platforms like Meesho. Machetes are available everywhere. The gang also had knives in the boot space of their two-wheelers. They may have procured weapons from multiple sources," a source said.

Eyewitness account

"We were shocked to see Felix and two others entering our office with Phanindra and going to his cabin on the first floor. Apparently, they had tucked the weapons inside their trousers.

"After the gang attacked Phanindra sir, three of us locked the ground-floor front door and ran out to call the police. Vinu escorted us to the first-floor door and locked it. Unaware of the front door being locked, he ran down the internal stairs to escape. The gang followed him down and smashed his head with a machete, " said an Aironics employee.