Cops suspect revenge behind elderly couple's brutal murder

The city police on Monday said vengeance could be the motive behind the brutal murder of an elderly couple on Coles Road in Pulakeshinagar.

The murder, which is suspected to have happened on Friday, came to light on Sunday when one of the tenants complained about foul smell emanating from the third floor of the complex where the couple resided.

The police detained several people, including the victims’ relatives, tenants and debtors for questioning.  The couple had received some cheques but they had bounced. They had lodged complaints against some of their debtors.

Parvatharaj, 61, and his wife Chandrakala, 55, had been stabbed 25 times. All this indicates the assailants had a strong revenge motive, said a senior police officer.

There was no intention of gain as all the valuables in the house were intact. It is, however, not known if any property documents have been stolen, added the police.

“There was a property dispute with family members. The victims were into real estate business and had even lent money on interest. We are probing the murders from all possible angles,” City Police Commissioner N S Megharik, who visited the crime scene, said.

The couple’s son Kiran Kumar, working in the US as a software engineer, is expected to reach Bengaluru on Tuesday.

“Once he arrives, we will find out if any valuable is missing from the house. The postmortem will be conducted at Bowring Hospital after Kiran arrives,” DCP (East) N Satish Kumar said.

The police have accessed the CCTV footage from all the locations within one kilometre radius of the crime scene to trace the assailants.

Sadique, who has taken the second floor on rent, said: “There was a religious procession on April 22 and Chandrakala came down for a puja. She spoke to me while going upstairs. I did not see her after that.

I noticed foul smell emanating from the couple’s house and sent a voice mail to their son Kiran Kumar. He requested me to see if the house was locked. We informed the police as the house was locked from outside.”