Prime accused and former bank manager Narasimha Murthy (65), his associates Deepak C (38) and Hariprasad (45) are in judicial custody.A chargesheet was filed against them Thursday.
The woman’s body was found on Feb 15, 2013, in Chikkajala, near Yelahanka. Her husband had earlier filed a missing person complaint. Then Chikkajala inspector, M Paramesh, arrested the husband on May 18, 2015, saying he had killed his wife in the house and dumped the body, on grounds that investigation found blood stains in the couple’s residence and a forensic exam revealed they matched with the victim’s blood.
The husband was released on bail after spending 73 days in judicial custody. He approached Karnataka HC in Sept 2015 seeking a CID investigation, and the case was transferred to CID in Oct 2022.
DGP (CID) MA Saleem said they carried out a scientific investigation into the case. “We discovered that the mobile number of a person – an associate of a family friend of the woman – had been present where the body was found. Also, an eyewitness, who had seen the woman with the same friend just before being killed, helped us find a new angle,” Saleem said.
The woman’s husband had worked in the bank branch where Murthy was manager. Murthy had seen the woman on many occasions and was drawn towards her. “Murthy planned to meet her near Hebbal bus stop. From there, he told her he would show her his recreation club and took her there. As planned, he raped her. Deepak and Hariprasad too raped her and strangled her. Stuffing the body in a gunny bag, Deepak and Hariprasad dumped it in Chikkajala,” said Narendra Babu MR, inspector, CID. “Murthy had repeatedly called Deepak to find out whether they had dumped the body. Deepak hadn’t accepted the calls and Murthy then texted him,” the cop said.
