On January 23, 38-year-old Manjunath had bid his wife and baby girl goodbye before going to work on his farm in Kampalihalli near Nelamangala. Little did his family know that he would be brutally murdered.
Speaking to TNM, Manjunath’s wife Pallavi said that her husband had gone to work at the farm at 11 am on that fateful day.
“There is a godown which we own near the farm. We had rented it to a man named Altaf who dealt in second-hand furniture. My husband had said that he would drop by the place and demand that Altaf pay the rent for the godown as he had not done so for two months. He never came home that night,” Pallavi said.
Pallavi began worrying and then informed her brother-in-law Nagaraj who went to the farm the next day. He found Manjunath’s bike parked at the farm but there was no sign of him.
Nagaraj then registered a missing persons complaint with the Nelamangala Rural Police Station.
“The case was transferred to the Central Crime Branch. On January 31, Altaf’s two minor sons approached us and confessed to the crime. They said that Manjunath had dropped by the godown and threatened to evict Altaf,” CCB sources told TNM.
An argument ensued and Altaf allegedly hit Manjunath on the head with an iron rod.
“Manjunath was not moving at this point. Altaf then severed Manjunath’s head with an electric saw and buried his head in the farm,” the CCB source added.
Altaf and his sons then took the body to Bengaluru’s Kengeri and dumped it in the storm water drain there.
“Altaf was arrested on February 1 and a case of murder has been registered against him. The minor boys have been booked for abetting the crime. They will be produced before the court today. The case was transferred back to the Nelamangala Police Station and a search operation is on to find Manjunath’s torso,” the CCB source added.
Shocked by the turn of events, Nagaraj says that he is worried about his brother’s wife and 8-month-old baby girl as his brother was the sole breadwinner for the family.
“This is so brutal and horrifying. What are Pallavi and her girl going to do now? What’s more shocking is that Altaf had spoken to me normally on the morning of January 24 when I went looking for my brother. He also said that he would call me and let me know if he spots my brother. This is beyond cruel. The rent he owed my brother was Rs 16,000 for two months. How could he kill my brother for that?” Nagaraj added.