Bengaluru: Family returns from trip, finds dead burglar at Indiranagar home

Bengaluru police are perplexed by the purported suicide of a 46-year-old burglar in an upscale house in Indiranagar.

The family returned from a Europe trip and was horrified to find the man hanging in the puja room. The deceased, who was previously arrested for theft, had ample opportunity to escape through the backdoor and police say it’s a mystery why he didn’t.

The extraordinary events unfolded at the house of senior software architect Shridhar Samantaroy at Eshwar Nagar in Indiranagar on October 20.

Shridhar left for Europe on September 20. His wife joined him five days later. The couple returned to their Bengaluru home at 4.30 pm on October 20.

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A surprise lay in store for them. The door won’t open with the key. The couple summoned a keymaker, who managed to open the door.

As the couple entered the house, they were in for more shocks. The backdoor connecting the kitchen had evidently been broken into. So was the kitchen door. Someone had ventured into the living room and other parts of the house. But there was nobody inside. Suspecting a burglary, Shridhar called the police.

Before the cops could arrive, security guards from a private agency rushed to the house. One of them peeped into the puja room through a window and was stunned to see a man hanging from the ceiling fan. Police later opened the room and took the body out.

Police launched an investigation and were able to identify the deceased as Dilip Bahadur alias Dilip Kumar, a native of Assam. He once lived in Kodihalli, near JB Nagar, and was arrested for a house break-in. He had a Modus Operandi Bureau (MOB) card against him.

The mystery of why he killed himself remains unsolved.

“It’s a strange case where the thief was found dead in the puja room,” Bheemashankar S Guled, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), said.

A police source suspected that Shridhar and his wife had yelled a warning as they believed that somebody was inside the house. It’s plausible that Bahadur suffered a panic attack and killed himself.

According to a police officer, the time of Bahadur’s suicide and the family’s arrival is almost the same. This, however, does not explain why Bahadur didn’t escape from the backdoor. “He had all the time and opportunity to do that,” the officer said.

Police investigations showed that Bahadur broke into the house on the night of October 19. He remained there until the family returned.

He appeared confident of doing a good job. He carried the necessary tools, including a gas cutter, a pair of clothes and other supplies in a backpack. He used the gas cutter to break the backdoor. He had a thorough look at all parts of the house. He ate snacks from the kitchen and slept comfortably on the bed. He even took a shower using toiletries in the bathroom and put on a fresh pair of clothes that he had brought along.

He ripped the cupboard but didn’t steal anything. He might have put it off as he was certain the family wouldn’t arrive soon, police said. Police have taken up a case of suspicious death and sent the body to the mortuary. They are trying to contact his family before ordering an autopsy.