Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)
Padubidri, Nov 13: The black Innova car which was used to block the way of Shivakumar, a businessman from Hiriadka on Tuesday November 11 and also the white Ford Fiesta car owned by Shivakumar, which had been forcibly taken away by the people who robbed him, were found from near Beltangady in an orphaned state. The decomposed corpse of Pravin from Thirthahalli, who was working as the driver of the Innova car that was stolen from Haleangadi, was found in Kalavar near the MRPL compound, floating in water. It is suspected that the robbers murdered and dumped him there, before taking away the car.
The Ford Fiesta car was found in Aladangady, parked by the roadside. The police chased the black Innova car, which did not stop even after Karkala police station-in-charge signaled it to stop in the afternoon of Wednesday November 12. Immediately, Puttur deputy superintendent of police Harishchandra, sub-inspector Rame Gowda and policemen of the Anti-Naxal Force and other policemen started a hot chase of the Innova car. The Innova rushed towards Ujire and took the Vivekananda Nagar route. Before the road again led to the main road, the robbers stopped the car near Rajmahal Hall and escaped.
Kaup circle inspector Cheluvaraju said that finger print experts have rushed to the spot and that no one has been arrested in this connection so far. Sniffer dogs taken to the spot guided the policemen till Beltangady Benaka Hospital. It is guessed that the miscreants reached there by foot and then took a bus.
The stolen car belongs to Shantaram Shetty, a stone quarry contractor from Haleangadi. Pravin, who had left home on the night of November 9 to drop some relatives of Shetty in Vamanjoor, had not come back and the owner had filed a missing complaint with the Mulky police station. The body of the driver was found tied with nylon ropes and a boulder was found fastened to the body. The owner of the car had said that he had contacted the driver at around 10.30 pm on November 9 when he said that the car tyre had burst and that he would return after getting the same repaired.
Dakshina Kannada district additional superintendent of police Dileep Kumar said that the department will be doing everything possible to find out the culprits and punish them.