MD, CEO of fibre net firm hacked to death; former employee among three held

Bengaluru: Close on the heels of a high-profile murder of a Jain Seer in Belagavi district, a double-murder horror has rocked the capital city of Karnataka — Bengaluru.

The deceased are Phanindra Subramanyam and Vinu Kumar, who were the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) respectively of Aironics Media Pvt. Ltd., a fibre net firm at Pampa Extension, Amruthahalli in the city.

A former employee, identified as Shabarish alias ‘Joker’ Felix, the prime accused in the case, has been arrested along with two others, Vinay Reddy and Santosh, according to Amruthahalli Police.

Felix barged into the office and stabbed and hacked the two with a knife and sword at around 3.30 pm yesterday, who breathed their last en route hospital, it is said.

Felix had allegedly quit the company to start his own venture, but had animosity against Phanindra. He (Felix) is also a social media influencer and has a large number of followers online.

Rival Co. MD picked up

The Police investigating into the case have also picked up Arun Kumar Azad, the MD of Gnet Broadband, the rival of Aironics, for questioning. Azad was picked up by the Police soon after he landed in a flight from Delhi, at Kempegowda International Airport, Devanahalli, in the midnight.

It is suspected that Azad had hired the three accused in the case to get rid of his business rivals. However, there is no clarity yet about his involvement as the investigation is still underway.

Law and order failure

Meanwhile, BJP hit out at the Congress Govt. over deteriorating law and order situation in the State, during the Assembly Session yesterday. Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated: “The Law and Order situation in Karnataka has been quickly deteriorating under the new Government.” Bommai cited the examples of recent murder of a Yuva Brigade activist in T. Narasipur in Mysuru district, brutal killing of a Jain Seer in Belagavi district and killing of a Head Constable by sand mafia in Kalaburagi.

BJP is demanding CBI probe into the Jain Seer’s murder case, while several pro-Hindu organisations are pitching for capital punishment for the killers. The accused have been identified by the Police as Narayan Mali and Hasan Dalayat, who were arrested six hours after they committed the crime, Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara told the Assembly yesterday.