Guard, 3 others butcher DRDO ex-staffer in his flat

Almost kill his wife, take away Rs 3 lakh in cash, 250 gm gold jewellery

A security guard and his three accomplices butchered a retired employee of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), almost killed his wife and then took away Rs three lakh in cash and 250 grams of gold jewellery from their flat at Pai Layout in Mahadevapura around 1 am on Tuesday.

One of the suspects was chased down by policemen on night patrol but others managed to flee. The three men dropped the cash and jewellery while fleeing. All the suspects are from Nepal, the police said.

The victim, Rajan Pillai, 70, and wife Usha were roused from sleep by repeated knocks on the door. Rajan peeped through the window and saw their security guard, Arun, standing at the door. Just as an unsuspecting Rajan opened the door, Arun and the three men barged in, and in the blink of an eye, ambushed him. They stabbed him in the head, slit his throat and gashed his abdomen. Hearing her husband’s howls, Usha sprinted out of the bedroom. One of the killers quickly pounced on her and slashed her hands. She bled profusively and fainted.

The suspects then broke open the cupboard and took away Rs three lakh in cash and 250 grams of gold jewellery. Their plan accomplished, they began to run out of the apartment. But policemen on night patrol had been driven to the scene of crime.

They managed to chase down a suspect, whom they later identified as Surendar Kadak, 22. Seeing him get caught, the three others dropped the cash and the valuables and beat a hasty retreat.

While Rajan succumbed to injuries, Usha was given first aid. The couple, from Kerala, had settled in Bengaluru 30 years ago. Rajan retired from DRDO in 2003. The couple’s son works in Saudi Arabia while daughter lives with her husband in Electronics City.

According to the police, Kadak has revealed the entire plot. A graduate from Kathmandu, he and two other men came down to Bengaluru from Nepal a few days ago. They stayed at the house of Arun’s relative in Andrahalli. Arun, who guarded the apartment block where the elderly couple lived alone, planned to rob them. He roped in the three others and they decided to strike some time after Monday midnight.

The trio arrived at the apartment block around 12.30 am. Arun let them in and locked the gate. The men then went to the first floor where the couple lived and went about their plot, the police added.

A case has been registered at the Mahadevapura police station and a manhunt has been launched for the killers.