Chain snatcher's arrest solves murder case too

The arrest of an autorickshaw driver on a charge of chain snatching has unwittingly helped the police crack the murder of a KSRTC bus driver, that remained unsolved for the last three years.

Yogeesh, 28, a resident of Srinagar, was recently arrested by the Srirampura police for chain snatching. During interrogation, he is said to revealed his reported involvement in the murder of Balaraju, a KSRTC bus driver, in 2010.

Investigators took Yogeesh’s revelation seriously and began following the trail of the said murder. They then arrested two men—Manjesh, 32, a courier boy from Rajarajeshwari Nagar, and Arun, 38, a construction labourer from Vidyaranyapura— believed to be Yogeesh’s accomplices in the crime. According to police, all the three have “confessed” to strangling Balaraju with a cable wire and stabbing him several times in the neck, abdomen and private parts with a screw driver.

Sandeep Patil, DCP (North), said the body of Balaraju was found dumped in a drain near Kudlu Gate off Hosur Main Road. The case was indeed booked as a murder at the Electronics City police station but had gone unsolved.

The story goes thus. Manjesh was furious with Balaraju as he had refused to repay immediately the Rs two lakh he borrowed from him in 2009. The two also had a bitter tiff over the matter. An enraged Manjesh then allegedly decided to kill Balaraju.
Police said he had “confessed” to hatching a conspiracy with his relative Arun and close friend Yogeesh.

On that fateful day, Manjesh asked Balaraju to meet him at a particular place. When an unsuspecting Balaraju went there, he was allegedly bundled into Yogeesh’s autorickshaw, taken to a desolate place in Kudlu Gate where the suspects reportedly strangled him with a cable wire.

Later, they stabbed him in the neck, abdomen and private parts with a screw driver, dumped his body in a nearby drain and fled.

Patil said Yogeesh’s autorickshaw was being used by the “gang” in its “nefarious” activities. The same vehicle was used in chain snatchings and had been recovered since, Patil added. Police also contended to have solved many chain snatchings with the arrest of the three suspects. The DCP said efforts were on recover the stolen goods.