The city police cracked the double murder that rocked JP Nagar on Sunday night within 15 hours. While a gangster and his associate were arrested, a third suspect turned himself in at a court.

Madhusudana alias Malyali Madhu, 37, and Likhin B V alias Likhin Bopanna Kuppanda, 26, were caught in Cubbon Park with police also recovering blood-soaked weapons from them. A court later remanded them in police custody for further interrogation. Another suspect, Narendra alias Naru, surrendered himself before the court on Monday. Police suspect that four more people were involved in the killing and are making efforts to nab them.

History-sheeter M Manjunatha alias Tamma Manja, 27, and his friend Varun Reddy, 24, a realtor, were riding on a scooter when a gang of six to seven men travelling by a Hyundai i10 waylaid them at 24th Cross in Puttenahalli Junction around 11.35 pm on Sunday. The gang killed Reddy and chased down Manjunath before brutally hacking him to death.

A preliminary investigation has revealed that Manjunatha was involved in the murder of history-sheeter Raghavendra alias Tab Raghu in 2017. Raghavendra’s brother Narendra vowed revenge and was waiting for the opportunity.

When Manjunatha came out on bail recently, Narendra ganged up with others to kill him and started tailing him.

Reddy was killed just because he was with Manjunatha.

“Reddy was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught in a long-running gang rivalry,” said Rohini Katoch Sepat, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South).

Police said Madhusudana had five cases against him at Kumaraswamy Layout police station while Likhin had two in JP Nagar and one at Kumaraswamy Layout police station.

“This was not a crime for gain but rather a purely malicious hate crime. Such incidents cause fear among citizens, so it was imperative that we catch these criminals at the earliest,” Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said on Tuesday and announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for the police team which nabbed the suspects.