Men tearing up police posters give away clues to murders

 Two men tearing up the posters put up by the police seeking information about a dead person have turned out to be involved in two murders.

On March 12, police had found a decomposed body in a stormwater drain at Srinivaspura village in Kengeri, west Bengaluru. They put up posters in and around the village, seeking information about the deceased. Villagers later noticed two men tearing up the posters, and called the police.

When police questioned the men — Prathap (20) and Madesha (22) — it emerged that they had killed the man in the poster, who was later identified as Puttaswamy (30), a municipal worker. They had strangled him and dumped his body into the drain. Prathap is said to have told the police that Puttaswamy was forcing him to marry his sister.

The duo was also found involved in the murder of a construction worker, Shivakumar. They had also robbed him of Rs 2,000. Prathap was known to Shivakumar. Police also learnt that the suspects were involved in several house burglaries in Srinivasapura. They have arrested Prathap’s father, Raju, for abetting him in the crimes.