Mangaluru: A 32-year-old grocery shop owner has been arrested from Mulihithlu here on charges of murdering his labourer by setting him on fire and later passing it off as an electrocution, the police said. The Mangaluru South police arrested the accused, Tausif Hussain, on Saturday based on evidence after questioning local residents in the vicinity, city Police Commissioner Kuldeep Kumar R Jain said.
The man allegedly set Gajnana, the labourer, on fire and then tried to misrepresent it as an electrocution. The police said the accused allegedly killed Gajnana over a minor dispute by setting him on fire. To cover up the crime, he falsely informed the people in the area that Gajnana had been electrocuted and was taken to a hospital for treatment where the doctors pronounced him dead.
After the preliminary investigation, the police confirmed the incident to be a murder and the accused was arrested. A case has been registered and further investigation is on, the police said. Earlier, in a shocking incident, a minor boy was burnt to death for resisting harassment of his sister by the accused in the Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh recently, the police said.
Police arrested three accused for the alleged murder while the fourth accused is at large. The arrested accused have been identified as Pamu Venkateswar Reddy (20), the prime accused, Pamu Gopi Reddy (25) and Mandela Veera Babu (20). A fourth accused Tumma Sambi Reddy was absconding in the case. Bapatla Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal while confirming the arrest of the three accused said that the murder took place on June 16 at 5.30 am. According to the SP, the accused waylaid the boy, thrashed him, poured petrol on him and set him ablaze. (With Agency Inputs)
