Killer known to victim, had gained her trust

Kikkeri (Mandya): The Kikkeri Police have successfully tracked the killer who slit the throat of a woman over a financial dispute on June 15. The arrest was made within 48 hours of the crime, based on mobile call records.

Pushpalatha (45) alias Nalina, who owned a medical shop at Kikkeri near Mandya, was found murdered inside her house. She was living alone after her husband passed away and owned Srikanth Medical Store. She also had some land and came from a well-to-do family.

Her murder in the broad daylight three days back had shocked the residents who suspected that the killer who target lonely women is back. The Police have now arrested Ravikumar (29) who was working for Pushpalatha for many years. He murdered her to settle a financial dispute between them.

Acting normal after the murder, Ravikumar was unaware of the fact that the Police were tracking him down as he was the last person who had made a call to Pushpalatha on the day she was murdered.

Earning trust

Ravikumar had gained the trust of Pushpalatha who had no one to depend on after her husband’s death. She too needed one person to manage her assets. They both knew each other well and Pushpalatha had given him money many times and there were normal financial transactions between them.

Pushpalatha lived in a rented house in Kikkeri town and her medical outlet was next to a clinic run by Dr. Yeshwanth. Apart from managing the medical store, she was distributing tokens to those who come to the clinic for treatment.

Ravikumar too used to come to the medical store and manage the counter. He joined her as a tractor driver and gradually he earned her trust. Police said that Ravikumar played his part well and used to help Pushpalatha in agriculture, managing the medical shop and also her financial deals.

Though there were some issues between them over financial transactions, Pushpalatha trusted Ravikumar and was fully dependent on him.

Realising this, Ravikumar hatched a plan to kill Pushpalatha so that all his loans can be cleared at once, the Police said.

The last call

Executing his plan, Ravikumar called Pushpalatha over the phone on June 15 and told her that the merchants who had purchased mango from her estate had come to hand over the crop money to her.

Pushpalatha, who was in her medical shop, believed Ravikumar and headed home.

Before leaving her shop, however, she informed the technical assistant of Dr. Yeshwanth’s clinic that she had to go home urgently and asked him to look after the medical outlet for some time. But little did Pushpalatha imagine that she would meet her death. As soon as she came home, Ravikumar pounced on her and slit her throat,  the Police said.

Relative finds body

Meanwhile, Pushpalatha did not return to the medical shop even till the afternoon.

At around 2.45 pm, her relative came to the shop and learnt that she had gone home and had not returned. Her relative went to her home and found the outer door latched from outside.

Puzzled, he opened the door only to see Pushpalatha lying in a pool of blood. He informed the Police.

According to the Kikkeri Police, after committing the crime, Ravikumar had come to the medical shop and was behaving in a normal way.

Inspector M.K. Deepak, who took over the case, began tracking her mobile phone calls and tower locations.

As per the data, the Police found out that the last call to Pushpalatha’s mobile phone was made by Ravikumar.

Also, they learnt that before leaving her shop, Pushpalatha had informed the clinic’s assistant that she had got a call from Ravikumar and was heading home, the Police said.

They took Ravikumar to the Police Station and began grilling him over the call.

Ravikumar confessed to killing Pushpalatha over financial matters, the Police added.