JOIN USThe Devarajeevanahalli police arrested three suspects for killing a 23-year-old Ola cab driver on March 18 and robbing his vehicle and other valuables.
The arrested are Arup Shankar Das (36), his brother Deeman Shankar Das (26) from Assam and Bharath Pradhan (22) from Odisha. They killed Rinson Tharayil, an Ola cab driver on March 18, and threw his body in a gutter in Bandrapalli near Hosur in Tamil Nadu.
City Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar said the suspects contacted Tharayil on March 18 night and hired his cab to Hosur. On the way, they killed him and fled with the car.
A senior police officer said Tharayil was a native of Kerala and was staying in Kaval Byrasandra with his parents. Tharayil's father T L Soman registered a missing complaint with the DJ Halli police after his son did not return even after two days.
Tharayil's body was traced on March 27. The police formed a special team and caught the suspects. They recovered a Renault Lodgy car, iPhone, mobiles and other documents from the suspects.
Strangled to death
The suspects were contractors and supplied construction labourers from Odisha and Assam. They were living in a rented house near Kacharakanahalli near Banaswadi. The suspects decided to rob the four-wheeler to make a fast buck. To avoid arrest, they stopped using their mobile phones.
On March 18 around 2 am, the suspects tried to hire a cab near the Veeranna Palya level crossing. Most of the cabbies refused, saying since they were app-based taxis they had to book the cab through their mobile.
Tharayil then arrived with his cab. One of the suspects approached him and offered him Rs 1,500 for a drop to Hosur. Tharayil agreed.
After travelling some distance, the three suspects asked Tharayil to stop at an isolated place to attend to nature's call. But since it was a deserted place, he did not stop. Then the suspects told him to go to Bedarahalli. As soon as Tharayil stopped the car near the village, the suspects punched him in his face and stomach.
Deeman held him while the two others stabbed him with a screwdriver. They later strangled Tharayil to death using a towel, said Kumar.
The suspects took his mobile and cash and threw his body into a gutter and fled with the car. The suspects tried to sell the car the following day but got no buyers.
Involved in abduction too
Before murdering Tharayil, the suspects had kidnapped Jintu Das, a security staff at RMC Yard and demanded
Rs 5 lakh from his brother. Das managed to escape and complained to the RMC Yard police.