A retired first division clerk with the Education department and his wife were found dead at their residence in JP Nagar on Friday.

Venkateshaiah (76), and Swarnamba (68), lived in a house they built 34 years ago opposite Oxford Group of Institutions in JP Nagar 1st Phase. They had no children. The murder came to light when their relatives broke open the door after a domestic help informed them of the foul smell emanating from the house.

The front door of the house was locked from inside and the rear door from outside. “The bodies are highly decomposed and it is difficult to ascertain how the couple were murdered. The post mortem report will reveal the cause for the deaths,” DCP (South) Sonia Narang said.

The bodies were found in the bedroom. Clues suggest that the house was ransacked after the murder, police sources say.

The couple were from Anekal. Venkateshaiah retired from the service in 1994. The couple were staying at at the house in the ground floor and had rented out the other in the first floor. A private firm employee was staying at a small house atop.
“The couple were not involved in any financial dealings and had no debts. They were extremely humble and had no enemies,” said Sathyaprakash, the couple’s relative.

Two people, a cleaner and a cook, used to work at the house. They had to go back on Monday and Tuesday as there was no response from inside. When the domestic helps, Deepakka alias Deepthi and Padma, visited the house on Friday, they found foul smell emanating from the house.

They immediately informed Swarnamba’s sister Lalitha, who lives in Channasandra. Lalitha and her family members broke open the door and found the decomposed bodies. According to the information collected by the police, a group of four men had come to the house on Monday to clean the sump. Swarnamba had informed Lalitha about the cleaning work. They were murdered sometime later, said the police.

“It is not clear whether the men had come on their own or the couple had summoned them. We will question them to ascertain the details. The maids will also be questioned,” said an officer probing the case.

“Monday’s call was the last conversation I had with my sister. Deepakka called me Friday morning and told me that the door is locked and foul smell is emanating from the house,” Lalitha said. According to the couple’s neighbour Srinivasamurthy, Swarnamba was not well for the past few weeks and rarely came out, he added.