What appeared to be a hit-and-run incident turned out to be a murder of a 58-year-old man, after the Bengaluru police probing the accident said that the victim's wife and son allegedly paid a taxi driver to run him over and make it look like a mishap. The incident occurred on January 21 when Subbarayappa, an agriculturist, on his way to meet a client, was hit by a vehicle. Subbarayappa was thrown off his bike and onto the road and died shortly after. Subbarayappa's son Devraj filed an accident complaint following the incident.
The incident appeared to be a hit-and-run case until the Whitefield police examined the spot and found it suspicious that the road had many patches and humps and that there were no CCTV cameras nearby, The Hindu reported.
The traffic police pulled up the CCTV footage from cameras further down the same stretch and spotted an SUV without a registration number close to the accident site when the incident occurred. The traffic police identified the vehicle on the basis of the sticker of a rental company and traced the car to a person named Anil Kumar, who had booked the vehicle during the time of the accident.
The traffic police then analysed call record details and found that Anil had called Subbarayappa himself claiming that he was interested in buying agricultural produce. The trap was laid by Anil to get Subbarayappa to come to the isolated stretch of road.
The police also found that Anil had borrowed a phone to call Subbarayappa's wife Yashodhamma. Even though she denied any involvement in the hit-and-run, the police said that Anil confessed that he was offered Rs 6 lakh by Yashodamma and her son Devraj to kill Subbarayappa, The New Indian Express reported.
The wife and son were worried that they would lose their property when they found out Subbarayappa allegedly had an affair. Anil was paid Rs 4.4 lakh in advance and he hatched a plan to eliminate the agriculturist after speaking to an advocate. Police are investigating the advocate who spoke to Anil.