Bengaluru: The Hubballi-Dharwad Police on Friday arrested a 22-year-old man from Davangere on charges of killing a young woman after she allegedly rejected his marriage proposal.

The accused, identified as Girish Sawant alias Vishwa stabbed Anjali Ambiger (20) multiple times at her house in Hubballi on Wednesday and went absconding. He allegedly threatened the victim of killing her in the same manner as a 21-year-old Hubballi college student Neha Hiremath who was stabbed to death by her former classmate.

Girish revealed that he had plans to murder Anjali for the last three months and the same was shared with his friends. Sawant had told some of his close friends that he would soon be called ‘second Fayaz’ and would murder Anjali soon. Fayaz is accused of murdering Neha Hiremath at her college in Hubballi on Apr. 18.

A Police Inspector and a woman Head Constable were suspended on charges of dereliction of duty over the murder. The victim’s family has alleged that they had complained to the Police but no action was taken.

According to the Police, Sawant was angry as he did not want to see Anjali getting married to someone else. “The relationship between Anjali and Sawant went stale when they fought three months ago. The couple went shopping at Durgadbail where Anjali told Sawant that the family was looking for grooms for her. This led to a heated argument between the couple and Sawant hit her in public. The passerby managed to save her and sent Sawant away. Since then he has been planning to murder Anjali,” the Police said.

Hotel owner recalls association

Investigation has revealed that Girish Sawant worked as a supplier at Maharaja Hotel in Mysuru. Govardhan, the restaurant owner, told reporters that he had hired Girish to look after his aged father through Vinayaka Nursing Care Service.

“He was hired to look after my father at my house. He worked for one and a half months. Later, on his request, he was given a room service job in our hotel, while also working as a supplier. He was irregular and often took leaves for days, claiming that his mother was ill. He also used to make calls from the hotel’s telephone and the staff’s mobile phones,” Govardhan said.

He also mentioned that a few days ago, Girish had taken Rs. 1,000, and on Tuesday afternoon, borrowed Rs. 5,000 as an advance. “After borrowing the money, he did not return to the hotel,” he said.

“During his work period sometime back, Girish said that he would leave the job as he had to take care of his mother and left Mysuru. A few days later, he called from Hubballi and said he would come back to work again and did so. He got along well with the staff at the hotel. There were no problems,” said Govardhan.

“On Wednesday, Police from Hubballi called and inquired about Girish. When they said he had committed murder, I couldn’t believe it. Finally, the other boys at the hotel showed me a video. Then I believed it. Later, the Hubballi Police came and questioned me and Girish’s colleagues,” he said.