Crime file: Body of widow found tied to bed, ‘Guest’ steals from paying guest and many more

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Body of widow found tied to bed
Bengaluru: The body of a 30-year-old widow was found with her hands and legs tied to her bed at her residence in Chinnappanahalli in Mahadevapura police limits on Monday. 
The deceased, Gayathri Devi, was a former employee of HAL. Gayathri’s body was found after the police broke open the house on Monday following reports of foul smell emitting from inside the locked house.
Gayathri and her husband Bhaskar are natives of Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. However, he died in a fire accident and his job was given to his wife on compassionate grounds.
The couple has a 12-year-old son, Umesh, who lives in Chittoor with Gayathri’s father Narayana. Gayathri reportedly quit her job at HAL two years ago, and had been living alone in a rented room on the fourth floor of a building located in the slums of Chinnappanahalli in Mahadevapura. The owner of the building, Krishnan, also reportedly lived in thesame building.
Gayathri’s father and son called her regularly, said the police, but had not been in contact with her for the past four days. When Narayana called his daughter on Sunday, her phone was switched off. Sensing something was amiss, he took a bus down to Bengaluru.
Upon arriving at his daughter’s house, he found the fourth-floor single room latched from outside. However, he was could smell a putrid odour which seemed to be coming from inside; so he called the building owner immediately and informed the police.
Breaking the door down, the police found the body of Gayathri Devi which appeared to have been decomposing for about four-five days. Her hands and legs had been tied to the bed and there were signs that she had been strangled to death.
The house seemed to have been ransacked, said the police, as though the accused had been specifically searching for something. However, since there were no signs of forced entry, the police suspect the accused must have been known to Gayathri. The possibility of rape could not be ruled out, they added.
One of the theories the police have is that Gayathri had loaned someone an amount of Rs 15 lakh, but had been unable to recover the money. Officials suspect that Gayathri came back to the city a few months ago after having quit her job; with the aim of getting her money back.
But things may have turned sour and the person could have killed her due to their inability in repaying the amount. Another theory is that Gayathri was the victim of a murder for gain; and was killed after being robbed.
The police are questioning residents on the other floors of the building, including the owner.
They have also pulled up the call details of the deceased and are cross-checking whom she was in contact with during the last few days of her life, thus hoping to find vital clues.Gayathri's body has been sent for an autopsy, which will determine the exact cause of death and also whether or not she was raped.
A case of murder has been registered with the Mahadevapura police, who are probing the matter from all angles.
Next: ‘Guest’ steals from paying guest

‘Guest’ steals from paying guest
Prakruti Koratagere| DC
Bengaluru: A techie from Andhra Pradesh who was to move to Silicon Valley in the Unites States after getting a job in a private firm, was robbed in the paying guest accommodation he rented, in BTM Layout.
Mohammed Fayaz, an engineer working with a software firm in the city, was living in Shiva Sai Reddy's PG for men in BTM 1st stage.
On Sunday, the owner of the PG introduced him to a young man called Abhinav, and said he would be Fayaz’s new roommate, who would move in the next day.
Ensuring that his belongings were locked securely in the safe provided by his landlord, Fayaz left home the next afternoon to go to a nearby mosque. Upon his return, he was shocked to find the door of the safe wide open and its contents, including electronic gadgets and hard cash, missing. ‘Abhinav’ was nowhere to be seen. 
The owner of the PG accommodation showed no interest in the theft and refused to accept any responsibility for it.
Fayaz said that after he called the police control room, a constable from the jurisdictional police station arrived, and Fayaz, along with his landlord were called to the police station, but the police were reportedly reluctant to not down his complaint. 
The landlord was adamant that the theft was not his fault and even dared Fayaz not to file a complaint, saying it would do no good because he had ‘influence’. The police did not register the complaint until Fayaz went back to the police station the next day and insisted they must.
When contacted, the Madiwala police said, “Such problems arise when PG owners do not perform background checks on their would-be tenants. These young people come, pay Rs 500-1000 as deposit sayi­ng they will move into a shared room the following day. 
They steal whatever belongings they can find and vanish. Most times, the details furnished by these youth are false, which makes catching them even harder. However, we have taken up this case and are investigating.
Next: Three held in SI assault robbery

Three held in SI assault robbery
Bengaluru: The Cubbon Park police have reportedly arrested three youngsters, who had allegedly assaulted and robbed a police sub-inspector and his friend recently.
Though no official confirmed the news, police sources said that the Cubbon Park police arrested the youngsters, while they were trying to draw cash from an ATM with a robbed debit card. “Three people have been picked up, while one more accused is at large. We are questioning them and trying to trace the absconding accused,” a source said.
SI Girish and his friend Haridas, were returning home when the incident happened.
Next: Copy cat suicide at mall

Copy cat suicide at mall
Chennai: A 30-year-old youth, of suspected unstable mind, from Veppampattu, in Chovvapettai police limits in Tiruvallur district, died of injuries he suffered after he jumped from the third floor of Spencer Plaza mall in Anna Salai on Monday noon.
The deceased, Kishore Kumar, who claimed that he was working as an accountant in a private firm in Nungambakkam, was admitted to the Royapettah general hospital where he told the police that he jumped from the third floor for ‘fun’. He had landed on his foot, which caused major fractures in his legs and internal injuries. He died around 4.15 pm.
Four weeks ago, a software professional from Coimbatore had jumped to his death from the third floor of Express Avenue mall in Royapettah.
On Monday morning, Kishore Kumar went bare-bodied to the Anna Salai police station to ‘inform’ them that somebody had murdered his family members.
Shocked by his ‘revelation’, Anna Salai police station inspector called the Chovvapettai police station to verify his claim. Kishore Kumar also told station inspector Murugesan that he decided not to wear a shirt when he ‘escaped’ from home because he ‘did not want to get noticed by the murderers following him’.
It was later that the Chovvapettai police told inspector Murugesan that no murder had taken place in Veppampattu as ‘described’ by Kishore.
“He later told us that he sometimes got tense in this way. I think he was imagining things. He was in the station for more than three hours. We gave him tea and snacks, we got a shirt for him to wear. He then claimed that he was feeling better and walked away,” recalled the Anna Salai station inspector.
It appears that he then crossed Anna Salai, went into Spencer Plaza and jumped to his death from the third floor.
Next: Fake food inspector held

Fake food inspector held
Kochi: A man who has been duping shopkeepers and restaurant owners by posing as a food inspector was arrested while trying to extort money from a restaurant in Aluva on Monday.
The accused, Suresh Babu (52) of Varikkappilly House in Manjummal, was arrested as he was trying to get away after duping the owner of Kammath Restaurant in Aluva, police said.
Babu did not confess to committing similar offences, but restaurant owners claim that he has been doing this for a few weeks in and around Aluva.
“The restaurant owner said they got suspicious of Babu’s behaviour as there was information from other restaurants. He allegedly demanded favours from the owner. We are not sure if he had been doing it at other places,” the Aluva sub inspector said.
The imposter told police he had completed food safety courses from outside Kerala. “We are probing if his confessions are true,” the police added.
Police has registered a case of impersonation against him and is expected to produce him in court on Tuesday.  
Next: Ganja kingpin arrested

Ganja kingpin arrested
Kochi: A ganja kingpin was arrested near Cham­pakkara market on Mon­day after the police and the excise sleuths apprehended him in filmi style.
The peddler, identified as Naveen Kumar, 38, of Pulikkal House on Water Front Road near Elam­kulam, was arrested following a tip-off. Maradu Sub Inspector A.B.Vibin, who led the police team, deliberately created a traffic block near Cham­pakkara to arrest the man who was driving down in his taxi carrying 2 kg of ganja.
According to the police, Naveen sold ganja exclusively to top-notch IT professionals and the urban population in the city.
A taxi driver by profession, Naveen used to find customers when he dropped IT professionals at Kakkanad and Infopark. “He used to sell ganja packets of 20 gram each for Rs 500. His supplier was a man from Adimali. We are also trying to arrest him,” said the police official.
It was after an IT professional was apprehended near Thykoodam that the police got to know of Naveen. “When we questioned the techie we got details about Naveen’s operations and his customers. We called him up pretending to be techies and asked him to come to Petta Junction to deliver the stuff. We knew that he would speed away if we stopped his car. Hence we checked every vehicle passing through the road and created a traffic block and thus took him into custody,” the officer added.
Additional S.I. Raveen­dranath, ASI Shanan, senior civil police officers N. Maniyan, Shibu K.N, Josh V. and Gireesh Babu and civil police officers Vinod Krishna, Manikkuttan, Sree­kumar, Murali V.R and Santhosh C.R. where also part of the team.
Next: 2 die in post-poll violence

2 die in post-poll violence
Khammam: Tension gripped Pandillapalli panchayat after the death of a CPM activist, who was allegedly killed in post-election violence late on Sunday night. Pandillapalli is 10 km away from Khammam district headquarters.
A police picket was posted in the village under the control of Wyra DSP B. Sai Sri to prevent untoward incidents. She said the police has booked cases against 12 persons, including the newly-elected sarpanch Jithender Reddy.
However, the police still has not arrested anybody as they are all at large.
Trouble started on Sunday evening when Alavala Srinivasa Rao, 36, a CPM activist and advocate, was attacked by a group of the same village. Rao, died while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Khammam.
Speaking to this newspaper, Sudarshan blamed deputy speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikram-arka for encouraging his cadres to attack CPM activists.
CPM media in-charge Nunna Nageswara Rao said that Bhatti is afraid of his prospects in the next Assembly election from Madhira, with the CPM posing a strong challenge.Alleging misuse of power, he said that Bhatti was trying to terrorise CPM cadres.
He said that their party would stage protest demonstrations across the district on Tuesday, denouncing the attacks and false cases against filed against CPM cadres.Meanwhile in Undi, a contestant for a ward member was shot dead allegedly with a country made gun at NRP Agraharam of this mandal in West Godavari in the early hours on Monday.
According to police, Pedapati Sriramachan-dra Murthy, 40, hailing from NRP Agraharam was contesting as a ward member from fifth ward in the village in the third phase of gram panchayat polls. 
Next: Son, kin hack rowdy-sheeter

Son, kin hack rowdy-sheeter
Hyderabad: Jilla Shankar, a 48-year-old rowdy-sheeter, was hacked to death by his 21-year-old son J. Chandrakanth and relatives at Leninnagar, in Meerpet, early on Monday morning. A dispute between Shankar and his first wife’s family led to the murder.
Chandrakant and some others attacked Shankar with knives, axe and sticks at his house. Though he tried to escape, the attackers chased and killed him.
A day before the incident, Shankar had attacked the house of his first wife Nagalakshmi’s relatives. “He attacked the house of one of his wife’s relatives in Leninnagar and damaged household articles and a two-wheeler. In retaliation, Chandrakanth and his relatives hatched a plan to attack Shankar,” said Meerpet inspector P. Sridhar Reddy.
Shankar, who was convicted in a murder case at LB Nagar, had abandoned his first wife and three children and had remarried six years ago. “He used to quarrel with Nagalakshmi and his in-laws whenever they visited their relatives in Leninnagar. Shankar had also warned them against visiting the neighbourhood,” the inspector said.
On Monday, his son and five others attacked Shankar’s house and stabbed him. “He ran out and tried to hide in an under-construction building. However, the assailants killed  him,” Reddy said.
Shankar sustained multiple injuries on his head, chest and other parts of body. He died on the spot.
Though the assaulters fled the scene, police has tracked few of them and has taken them into custody. Official arrests are yet to be made.
Next: House burgled at Malkajgiri

House burgled at Malkajgiri
Hyderabad: Thieves broke into a house in Malkajgiri last night and fled with gold and cash worth about Rs 45,000.
The owner who returned in the morning was shocked to find the door open.  Krishna Mohan, the victim, had locked the house on Sunday night, and had left for a relative’s place.
When he returned on Monday morning, he was shocked to find the backdoor open. Inside the house he found the almirah open. When he checked for the valuables he found them missing. Krishna Mohan approached the cops later and lodged a complaint with them.
A case has been registered and investigated.