Three people have been arrested for the double murder and burglary at a house in Koramangala on 17 December. The police arrested three persons, Jagadish (23), Abhishek (22) and Kiran (18). Jagadish was earlier working as a driver in the house of Rajagopal Reddy, the owner of the house that was burgled.
The three people broke into the house on December 17 and killed 45-year-old Kariyappa, who had been working for Rajagopal Reddy for 30 years and they also killed the security guard Bahadur. The guard had been tied up and thrown into the water sump, where he drowned. The family had been away from Bengaluru to attend a wedding and discovered the bodies when they returned. The trio stole Rs 5 lakh in cash, USD 5,000 and jewellery from the home.
Madiwala police had registered a case under sections 302 (murder) and 397 (committing robbery with deadly weapon) of the Indian Penal Code. Police said that Jagadish knew where the valuables were kept in the house and he also was familiar with the layout of house and had already planned the burglary while he was working. Jagadish was fired from his job a couple of months ago, after he took a car from the house without informing anyone. On the night of December 17, Jagadish along with his neighbour Abhishek and Kiran, cut the wires of CCTV cameras in the house, killed the two persons and stole from the house. Abhishek and Kiran are brothers.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, December 20, Commissioner of Police CH Pratap Reddy said that police who had entered the house and found the body of domestic help Kariyappa intially suspected the Nepali security guard when he was not found immediately. “But they discovered his body in the water sump. The police collected all forensic evidence, and it helped track the suspects down quickly,” he said.
The Madiwala police formed five teams to track them down and identified the trio from CCTV camera footage from the area surrounding the house. DCP (southeast) CK Baba said that they took care to collect forensic evidence which also helped them in tracking down the suspects. The three people were tracked to Yediyur in Tumkur district and were arrested within 48 hours. All the valuables and money stolen have been recovered. Jagadish already had a case registered against him at Madanayakanahalli police station for theft and fraud.