Four days after the body parts of a woman were found dumped in several locations in Chimpuganahalli in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district, the police on Monday arrested three people, including her son-in-law, a dentist, for the murder.
The police identified the deceased as Lakshmi Devi, 42, a resident of Bellavi village, and the accused as Dr Ramachandraiah S, 47, Satish K N, 38, and Kiran K S, 32, all residents of Kallahalli.
Ramachandraiah is married to Devi’s daughter, Tejasvi, 26, the police said, adding that this was his second marriage.
According to the police, on August 3, Devi left her home to see her daughter. A day later, her husband, Basavaraj, lodged a missing person’s complaint at Bellavi police station. Three days later, on August 7, the police were alerted about 19 body parts being found at various places in Chimpuganahalli. The body parts were found inside bags that were disposed of at no fewer than 19 locations, the police said.
The Koratagere police registered a murder case and sent a message to all police stations in the district to check if any missing person complaints had been filed. It was then that the Bellavi police informed Basavaraj, who identified the body as Devi’s.
According to the police, CCTV footage showed that a Maruti Suzuki Brezza was used to dump the body parts. The vehicle was allegedly registered in the name of Satish. “We took custody of Satish, and he spilled the beans. Satish and Kiran were taken into custody from Hornad. Ramachandraiah was in Dharmasthala after the murder and was not available for questioning. This also raised our suspicion,” a police officer said.
Ramachandraiah allegedly claimed that his wife was listening to her mother’s advice and causing trouble in their marriage, Ashok K V, Superintendent of Police (SP), Tumakuru district, said. “He was unhappy over his mother-in-law’s interference. His first marriage is still in the divorce stage. In 2019, he married Tejasvi,” SP Ashok added.
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“We are yet to know why the accused cut her body into pieces and threw it at different locations. We have produced them before the court and will take them to police custody for further questioning. The car gave us the major lead to crack the case,” he said.
According to the police, Satish was one of Ramachandraiah’s patients and stayed near his house. Kiran was Satish’s cousin, the police added.
SP Ashok denied reports that the murder was linked to human sacrifice.