A middle-aged marriage broker, along with two autorickshaw drivers, has been arrested for murdering her husband’s elderly aunt for financial gain in Rajarajeshwari Nagar at the weekend. 

Jyothi, 41, with the help of two auto drivers — Sunil, 23, and Puttaswamy, 30 — “strangled” her husband’s aunt Rama Doraimani, 71, before “making off with her gold jewellery” at her second-floor flat in Shubhodaya Enclave, an apartment complex in Rajarajeshwari Nagar last Saturday, police said.

She desperately needed money to repay loans she had taken to run the two business enterprises — Match For You Matrimony and an Airtel project. She also worked for the marriage portal, BharatMatrimony.com, until recently. 

The prime suspect, police went on, then hatched a “plot” to murder Doraimani for financial gain. She roped in Sunil, who would drop her adopted son at school, and his co-worker Puttaswamy. Together, the trio went to Doraimani’s home on Saturday morning. 

Husband not in loop

A hospitable Doraimani offered them tea. Later, they overpowered and strangled her with a dupatta, police explained. Thereafter, they stole the jewellery and fled. All along, Jyothi kept her husband, Kumar, out of the loop. A melancholic Kumar attended his aunt’s funeral without having any idea about the killers, police said. 

The suspects later pawned the stolen jewellery with two different pawnbrokers in JP Nagar. During investigation, police concluded that the killers were known to the victim. Even her daughter and other family members suspected as much. 

The investigators sifted through the call data record (CDR) and circumstantial evidence and zeroed in on the suspects. They also claim to have recovered the stolen jewellery, an autorickshaw and a mobile phone, all valued at Rs 3.8 lakh. 

The Commissioner of Bangalore Police, Raghavendra Auradkar, said he would write letters to the respective Regional Transport Office (RTO) authorities recommending that the driving licences of Sunil and Puttaswamy be cancelled.

“We feel such a step is needed or else the people who commute by the suspects’ autos would be at risk once they are released on bail,” he said.