Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Aug 7: The police personnel of city south division here, who came to know that businessman Prasad Babu from Rajarajeshwari Nagar, and Balaji from Girinagar, about whom missing cases had been filed, had in fact, been kidnapped, murdered and buried over financial dispute, have arrested ten accused so far. There are now looking for some more.

The arrested accused are Tejas (29), Anil (29) and Sathish (24), who were arrested in the first instance. The other accused, Manikantan (28), Anand (29), Krishna (28), Harish Kumar (37), Mukesh (26), Balaji (25) and Yuvaraj (21) have also been arrested and taken into police custody.

Southern division deputy commissioner of police, Dr Sharanappa, stated that investigation is continued about people who extended support to the accused.

The accused are learnt to have tried to mislead the police by saying that the two businessmen who have gone missing are the associates of Cycle Ravi, who was recently arrested by the central crime branch police, and that they had fled fearing police investigation, and they would come back. The police succeeded in seeing through their game plan and arresting them.

Both the families which filed missing complaints had expressed suspicion about the hand of Tejas behind this crime. The police had formed three special teams to crack this case. Tejas in the meanwhile, took part along with family members of the deceased to search the missing persons, to convince them that he had no role to play in their disappearances. He also used to tell the families that the missing persons would come back. A police team lead by assistant commissioner of police in Jayanagar was involved with verification of CCTV cameras in the area. During this verification, the police found movements of Anil, who was involved with Mico Ravi murder case, and questioned him during which the details came out.

The accused had confessed that the two missing persons were led to the cement godown of Tejas near Anjanapur by making them believe that money due to them would be paid in cash there. There both were tortured and then smothered to death. The bodies were brought to Harohalli where they were placed over firewood spread out in a pit, and burnt down by using 20 litres of petrol, ten litres of ghee, five kg camphor and 20 kg sugar. Tejas and others waited till the fire died down, and returned after filling the pit with mud. The police who dug out the place, could get only a few pieces of bones said to pertaining to backbones of the two. The police handed over mud recovered from the area to both the families, who performed last rites of the two at Srirangapatna on Monday.

In the meanwhile, it has come to light that Tejas and his associated had assaulted the son of retired director general of police, H S Satyanarayana Rao, about which a complaint had been filed in J P Nagar police station in the past.