Seven more members of the gang that abducted and murdered two realtors in southern Bengaluru over a sour land deal have been arrested. 

Three men, including the kingpin, Tejas N Raju, were earlier arrested on Saturday. 

The gang had abducted Prasad Babu, 47, of Rajarajeshwari Nagar, and A Balaji, 44, of Girinagar, to a farmhouse in Thalaghattapura on June 27 and murdered them.

The same night, the gang burnt the bodies and buried them in a private land in Harohalli near Kanakapura Road. Police exhumed the bodies on Sunday and sent them for forensic examination. Babu had purchased a site from Tejas and paid Rs 50 lakh for it. But he cancelled the deal on legal advice as the site turned out to be a stormwater drain.

Balaji had helped Babu get a loan for the site. Babu asked Tejas to give the money
back.

Following Tejas’s arrest and confession, a special police team arrested seven of his accomplices — Sathish Mathi, 24, Anand P, 29, Krishna N, 28, Harish Kumar, 37, Mukesh,
26, Balaji M, 25, and Yuvaraj, 25. They are from Jayanagar or JP Nagar.

Before his arrest, Tejas reportedly tried to mislead the investigation, saying Babu and Balaji were the close associates of Cycle Ravi, a notorious criminal. He accompanied the victim’s relatives to the police station and convinced them he had no role in their disappearance. He also assured the families of the victims’ safe return and tried to frame innocent people, a senior officer said. 

The case had reached a dead end until police started
tracking two habitual offenders — Anil Kumar and Manikanta alias Mani — who went missing soon after the June 27 incident.

Police spotted them in the CCTV footage of Tejas’ farmhouse and picked them up for questioning. It wasn’t long before all the dots were connected. 

Tejas was earlier arrested by the JP Nagar police for assaulting the son of a retired IPS officer over a financial dispute.