Karnataka woman murdered, body chopped into pieces by her tenants from Bihar; one arrested

Speaking at a press conference, police said that among the seven accused of the murder, Indal Kumar has been arrested and the police are on track to arrest the others.

Bengaluru:Bengaluru police have arrested a man from Bihar in connection with a woman's murder case in the southern state, police said on Saturday. Police said that the accused along with his accomplices murdered the woman and then cut off the victim's arms and legs and threw her body. The accused has been identified as Indal Kumar. Kumar was taken into custody on June 4 by Police Sub Inspector (PSI) Siddan Gowda in Bihar and brought to Karnataka on June 7 for questioning.

The deceased has been identified as Geethamma (53), who was living alone in Janata Colony in Karnataka's Bannerghatta. Speaking at a press conference, Bengaluru Rural SP Mallikarjun Baladandi said, "The victim's body was found near the compound of Janata Colony on June 1 without hands, legs, and head. The police then started an investigation and found that the deceased woman had given a home for rent to seven youths. The police found that the tenants left for Bihar."

''Based on this, PSI Siddanagowda of Bannerghatta Police Station and his team visited Bihar's Aurangabad and arrested one of the accused Indal Kumar. During the interrogation, Kumar said that a total of seven accused were living in the rented house and had committed the crime," the SP said.

"Pankaj Kumar, the main accused of the murder was very close to the deceased as he was living in her house for many years. Since he was close with Geetamma, he was pestering her to register the rented houses in his name. Geetamma did not agree to this and on May 27 Pankaj along with others strangled her to death. Later, in fear of being arrested, they dumped the body away from the compound," SP Mallikarjun Baladandi said.

"Since it was difficult to move the body, they severed the head, hands, and legs and threw them at different places. As the torso was very heavy, they threw it near the nearby compound and escaped. Among the 7 accused of murder, Indal Kumar has been arrested. The search is on to arrest the other accused," the SP said.

A team led by Inspector Umashankar of Bannerghatta Police Station, under the guidance of ASP and DySP, succeeded in cracking the case. SP Mallikarjuna Baladandi said that the inspector will be felicitated and given a letter of appreciation by the Bengaluru Rural District Police.