The Bengaluru Police have cracked the case of an elderly man who was bludgeoned to death while trying to prevent a burglar from entering his house in Yelahanka New Town on June 21.
Naveen Kumar Manjegowda, a resident of Hassan, was arrested on Friday night by the police.
The police had to chase Naveen in Hassan as he jumped the roofs of buildings trying to dodge them, and has since earned the moniker ‘Spiderman’.
On June 21, Naveen had allegedly bludgeoned 69-year-old Anantha Ramaiah to death and had also injured a 12-year-old boy when they tried to fend him off as he barged into their homes.
According to DCP North East, PS Harsha, Naveen is already facing 21 criminal cases, including those of murder, robbery and mugging.
“Naveen Kumar would come to Bengaluru from Hassan just to burgle homes. He would hire a taxi or an auto rickshaw and roam residential areas and observe locked houses. He would then return to the chosen spots at night and throw stones at the houses to make sure no one was around before robbing them,” he added.
It was his routine of hiring auto that got him caught. The police traced Naveen with the help of the auto driver who had dropped him off in Yelahanka.
Naveen had taken an auto at Majestic and asked the driver to drop him off at Yelahanka. Up on reaching Yelahanka, Naveen had asked the driver to roam around the area and also gave him a Rs. 500 note without taking the change.
The police collected footage from CCTV cameras in the area and obtained Naveen’s picture, which they began showing auto drivers and shop owners to see if any of them could identify him.
“In one footage, Naveen is seen climbing a wall easily and jumping to another building. He is an expert in climbing walls and this particular clue helped us nab him,” the DCP added.
The investigation has revealed that before killing Anantha Ramaiah, Naveen looted the elderly man of Rs. 15,000 and spent Rs. 12,000 on his children’s school fees.