• Accused arrested within a few hours; Pistol, dagger seized
• Cops nab two accused at Channarayapatna Bus Stand

Mandya: A 27-year-old man has been murdered in front of his wife and children at his house in Vidyanagar 2nd Cross on Monday night and Channarayapatna Police have arrested two persons at Channarayapatna Bus Stand, while they were trying to flee to Rajasthan. The arrested are Manish and Kishan, both native of Rajasthan.

The Police, who interrogated the accused were told that they (accused) had received ‘supari’ from the victim’s wife and her lover to eliminate him. The deceased is Bundaram Jeevarappa, a native of Pali in Rajasthan. Bundaram was running Mataji Hardware Store on Guttalu Road in Mandya. His uncle’s children too were running a Hardware Store on 100ft. Road here.

Bundaram had taken a three storey house in front of Kumar Dental Clinic on rent where his brother was staying on the second floor and Bundaram, along with his wife and children, on the third floor. On Monday, after closing the shop for the day, Bundaram returned home and was sleeping after having his dinner.

At about 11.30 pm, Bundaram’s cell phone began to ring and Bundaram, began to talk over the phone and climbed down the stairs and went near the gate of the house during which four masked men held him. One of them held a pistol on Bundaram’s head and asked him to get into his house. When the masked men took Bundaram to his house, they first tied Bundaram’s wife and children and also gagged them so that they could not make sound. The masked men later stabbed Bundaram in front of his family members, slit his throat and killed him.

After a few minutes, Bundaram’s wife and children, who managed to remove the cloth stuffed into their mouth, began to scream which attracted the neighbour, who pushed the door open and untied Bundaram’s wife and children besides informing the matter to the Police.

Mandya West Police, who rushed to the spot, conducted mahazar, registered a case and shifted the body of Bundaram to MIMS Hospital for post-mortem. The Police then summoned the Dog Squad and the sniffer dogs went up to Annapoorneshwari Temple and returned.

Mandya District SP K. Parashuram and Mandya West Police visited the spot. A case has been registered at Mandya West Police Station.

How the killers were caught?

After murdering Bundaram, the accused, carrying the pistol and dagger in a bag, left Mandya in a bus and reached Kunigal. As they wanted to go to Rajasthan, the accused kept the bag inside the bus bound for Channarayapatna and got down from the bus. As they were enquiring with others about other buses, the bus in which they had kept the bag, left Kunigal Bus Stand. The accused on not seeing their bus, enquired the staff present there, who told them that the bus had left for Channarayapatna. The accused informed the staff that they had left their bag inside and would collect it at Channarayapatna.   

When the bus reached Channarayapatna Bus Stand, the conductor of the bus handed over the bag of the accused to the Traffic Controller telling him that the owner of the bag was left behind at Kunigal and he was on his way to collect the bag.

As the Police and KSRTC staff were keeping vigil on the bus stand following the bomb scare at Mangalore Airport, the KSRTC Traffic Control Officer inspected the bag and found a pistol, dagger, few letters with address and other things in the bag. The Officer immediately informed Channarayapatna Police, who rushed to the Bus Stand and examined the bag.

As the Traffic Controller told the Police that the owner of the bag was coming to collect the bag, the Police waited and when the accused reached the Bus Stand and asked for the bag, the Cops arrested Manish and Kishan, two of the accused.

During interrogation, the accused are said to have informed Channarayapatna Police about receiving ‘supari’ from Bundaram’s wife and her lover to eliminate Bundaram in Mandya.

Channarayapatna Police then informed Mandya West Police, who has brought the accused to the Police Station for enquiry.