Bengaluru/Chennai: An engineering student who had gone missing for over four days was found dead near Anekal on Bengaluru's southern outskirts on Sunday. Police are treating it as a case of murder.
Police officers said that the partially charred body of Harshit Kontala, 19, a native of Uttarakhand, was found near a eucalyptus grove in Telagarahalli close to the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. Investigators also found a backpack and a mobile phone near the body.
A senior police investigator said that the deceased was studying BTech at Alliance College of Engineering and Design in Anekal.
DH has learnt that Kontala, a first-year student, stayed in the college hostel located across the border in Thally in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri district, which is nearly 20.5 km from Anekal. The college has a bus service to ferry the students to and fro from the hostel to their classes.
The police officer also mentioned that investigations uncovered that Kontala had left the hostel on the morning of his disappearance, telling the hostel administration he was headed to college. However, he never arrived at his destination.
Police said that Kontala had gone missing on February 21. He neither attended classes nor entered the campus on the day, and his parents were intimidated immediately after the hostel attendance that evening where he was found absent, DH has learnt.
The Thally police registered a missing person's case on February 23 following a complaint by the college management on the same day.
“Initially, the complainants approached the Anekal police where the case was not registered. As the hostel fell under Thally police’s jurisdiction, a case was registered here,” a Krishnagiri police officer told DH.
Mallikarjun Baladandi, Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru District, said that a case of murder had been registered by the Anekal police. “Special teams have been formed to probe the case,” the senior officer told DH.
Scene of crime officers and forensic analysts were at the spot and gathered material evidence. A detailed forensic report is awaited.
Meanwhile, the deceased’s parents arrived during the day and the body was handed over to them after the completion of the autopsy, the police said.