Kodagu Police nab him at Kota in Rajasthan

Madikeri: A murder accused, who had escaped from Kodagu Police custody at Telangana when he was taken for spot mahazar, has been arrested at Kota in Rajasthan on Nov. 5 by Kodagu Police.

The accused, identified as Ankur Rana, was wanted in the murder of a Telangana-based industrialist Ramesh Kumar, whose charred body was discovered in the Marigudi area of Panya estate near Suntikoppa recently.

The investigation by Kodagu Police led to the arrest of Ramesh Kumar’s second wife Niharika, along with Dr. Nikhil Myreddy and Ankur Rana from Haryana. The Police had seized a Mercedes Benz car, mobile phones, and other items believed to be connected to the crime.

On Oct. 30, a team of 13 officers took Niharika and Ankur to conduct spot mahazar at Horamavu in Bengaluru. The following day, the team took both suspects to the murder site near the Uppal-Bhuvanagiri National Highway in Telangana, where they carried out the legal procedures. After completing their work, the officers checked into a hotel near Uppal, approximately 30 kilometres from Hyderabad, where they were supposed to keep the suspects overnight. However, in the early hours of Nov. 1, Ankur Rana managed to escape from the hotel, prompting a manhunt by the Police.

As Kodagu Police had to hand over both the accused to Judicial Custody on Nov. 4, they handed over Niharika to Judicial Custody and submitted the FIR copy registered at Kancharam Police Station in Telangana, pertaining to accused Ankur escaping from their custody to the Court following which the Court had issued a show-cause notice to the Investigating Officer.

Meanwhile, accused Ankur, who had stolen a mobile phone, had contacted some of his close confidants over the phone and the Police, using the mobile phone tower location technology, conducted operations for six days in Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. On Nov. 5, the Police finally traced him at Kota in Rajasthan and arrested him. Ankur was brought to Kodagu under tight security and handed him over to Judicial Custody.

But the Kodagu Police team will now have to face a Departmental inquiry as accused Ankur had fled from their custody.