A water supplier in Bengaluru came to the rescue of a painter living on Bannerghatta Road after he walked in to deliver a can of water just as supari killers were allegedly in the house trying to kill the painter. The sequence of events took place on December 14 and the water supplier, Mani, further helped the police arrest the suspects who allegedly tried to kill the painter B Nagaraj. Six people have been held including Nagaraj’s 28-year-old wife and her boyfriend.
On the fateful day, Mani arrived at the house at 9:15 pm to supply a water canister when he saw 3 men and a boy were strangling Nagaraj even as his wife Mamata N looked on. "On seeing me, the gang let go of Nagaraj and one of them yelled in Kannada: ‘odro’ (run). They took away their weapons: a towel, knife and iron rod. I was in two minds — whether to chase them or attend to Nagaraj. Looking at his condition, I decided to help him", Mani told Times of India. He alerted the police control room and called in and ambulance immediately.
Hulimavu Police, who investigated the case, have now managed to arrest Mamata and her boyfriend Prashanth, who hatched the plot to murder Nagaraj. Police say Prashanth had allegedly given Rs. 1.5 lakh contract to his friends - Anil Biswas (21), Zakir Hussain (20), Hari Kumar (20) and a juvenile - to barge into Nagaraj's home and kill him. A day later when an injured Nagaraj recovered in a private hospital, Mamata eloped with Prashanth.
According to police, Prashanth, who works as a delivery personnel, and Mamata had been warned by Nagaraj to break off their relationship. Nagaraj and Mamata had married ten years ago when the latter was working at a medical store. Prashant befriended Mamata as he often visited the medical store to buy medicines for his father. When Mamata sought a house on rent, Prashanth allowed her to stay in his premises, an arrangement that did not go down well with Nagaraj, The New Indian Express reported.
The duo allegedly planned to stage a robbery and murder Nagaraj in the process. The group allegedly barged into his house and took away his jewellery and were about to strangle him to death when the water supplier arrived.
Police have now arrested Mamata, Prashanth and his friends who allegedly gave the contract to kill Nagaraj.