JOIN USThe kidnappers, who had allegedly demanded Rs five crore ransom and later killed the boys, remain elusive.
The boys, students of BBM course at Mysore’s Mahajana College, had gone to attend exams on June 8 and returned home as corpses. As a mark of protest, the town went into complete silence and an undeclared bundh with businesses downing their shutters voluntarily through the day. Residents of Hunsur staged a ‘rasta roko’ for four hours on Mangalore-Bangalore bypass to protest against the incident.
Meanwhile, Home Minister R Ashoka announced on Monday that a police team led by DCP (Crime) A V Krishna Raju has been set up to trace culprits behind the gruesome murder of two students from Mysore.
Talking to reporters after convening a meeting with the top police officers, he said the police have taken up the case as a challenge and are determined to bring the culprits to book at the earliest.
“ We will send a strong message to the anti-social elements by taking swift action,” the minister said.
However, what this incident has brought to fore, is the lack of sense of duty and coordination among the police officers. Though the crime had taken place on June 8, the case was not registered till late hours on June 9.
Despite the parents approaching Hunsur police regarding their sons going missing on the very day, it is said that the cops completely ignored the seriousness of the situation, and even went on to suggest that they (parents) approach Mysore police since the ‘incident had taken place in Mysore’.
In Mysore, the anxious parents were met with same level of cold-shouldering by the cops. Though with the first call on the day of kidnapping, which was made using one of the boys’ cell phones, was traced to Baburayana Koppalu near Mysore, the police found the easy way out in suggesting that the place comes under Mandya district jurisdiction. This sank the hearts of the parents.
Though after much efforts, the police finally registered the complaint on June 9, they were undecided on filing an FIR. Just then came another phone call from Sudheendra, son of wealthy hardware trader in Hunsur, Mohan Kumar’s son. He had asked them to arrange for the money as soon as possible.
It was after this that the police woke up and launched a manhunt for the culprits. Surprisingly, the police feigned ignorance to tracking phone calls, and said they were not armed with the technology to trace few calls that were made by the kidnappers. Since Hunsur is a sub division, the station is not even armed with facilities to trace the calls.
Though the cops claim they had recorded the voices of kidnappers, this turned out to be useless.
With accusations being levelled against Sudheendra and Vighnesh’s friends, who knew about Sudheendra’s father’s sprawling business and affluent background, it remains to be seen whether the kidnappers -- who according to police could even be Supari killers -- will ever be nabbed. They remained elusive after making just three phone calls and sending one letter through a KSRTC bus driver from Kodagu. There are even apprehensions about someone within the family being party to this gory incident since the kidnappers knew exactly what was happening within the family’s household and even referred to it in their phone calls.
The residents await justice. And, this sure will be a costly lesson for the town police for a long time to come.