Hunsur: A triangular love affair has ended with the murder of a youth who was reported missing and the Police have arrested two persons including a minor boy in connection with the case.

While the deceased is Ramesh Nayaka (22), son of Neelanayaka of Jabagere village in the taluk, the arrested are Puttanayaka, son of Ramesh of Modur village and a 17-year-old boy. The arrested have been remanded to judicial custody.

It is learnt that Ramesh Nayaka and Puttanayaka were in love with the same girl and this triangular love affair had led to the murder of Ramesh Nayaka.

Ramesh was murdered, not missing: On May 13, 2018, Ramesh left his home on his bike (KA-45-R-8857) saying that he was going out and had not returned. After searching for him for a few days, his parents had lodged a missing complaint at Hunsur Police Station. Hunsur Police, who had registered a case, had begun their investigation and a search to trace missing Ramesh.

In the meantime, when the Police were investigating an accident on Manandawadi Road, they found a bike fallen into a ditch at a distance from the accident spot and after going through the registration number they came to know that this was the same bike which Ramesh had taken before going missing and informed Hunsur Police.

Hunsur Police, who rushed to the spot, managed to trace the address of the bike owner and after confirming that this was the same bike that Ramesh had taken before he went missing, began this investigation. During investigation, the Cops came to know that a boy working at a petrol bunk had accompanied Ramesh and immediately took the boy into custody and during questioning, the boy revealed the truth.

Ramesh was murdered in Kodagu: Ramesh was in love with a girl from K.R. Pet taluk and Puttanayaka, who was working at a Honda bike showroom at Kakkabe in Virajpet taluk was also in love with the same girl.

Puttanayaka, who used to collect information about the movements of Ramesh and the girl, hatched a plan to eliminate Ramesh as there would be no one between the girl and him. Puttanayaka then took the help of his friend (minor boy) at the petrol bunk.

The boy, after telling Ramesh that his girl was in Kodagu and wanted to meet him, brought Ramesh to Kodagu and introduced him to Puttanayaka. Puttanayaka then took Ramesh to a coffee estate at Devarakadu, where he told Ramesh about his love affair with the girl. This resulted in heated exchange of words and as the issue escalated, Puttanayaka hit Ramesh with an object and killed him. Puttanayaka and his friend, later took Ramesh’s bike and dumped it into a ditch on Manandawadi Road and fled from the spot.

Based on the information provided by the petrol bunk boy, the Police recovered the decomposed body of Ramesh. As the body was beyond recognition, the Police showed the parents the dress the deceased was wearing and Ramesh’s parents confirmed that it was their son’s dress following which it was proved that Ramesh was murdered.

The Police, have arrested Puttanayaka and the minor boy, who have been remanded to judicial custody. Hunsur Circle Inspector K.C. Poovaiah and staff Harish, Ramesh, Yogesh, Mahadevaswamy, Prasad, Lingarajappa, Rajegowda, Mohan, Nagesh and Manjunath, took part in the operation.