The Hindu : Front Page : Businessman’s wife murdered; gold, cash worth Rs. 10 lakh looted

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Businessman’s wife murdered; gold, cash worth Rs. 10 lakh looted

Special Correspondent

Police suspect that the killers were familiar faces as the guard dog did not bark

Murder took place between 7.30 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Selvi was stabbed in the neck

Selvi

BANGALORE: In yet another brutal murder for gain, a businessman’s wife who was alone at her first floor house in Vijayanagar here was stabbed by robbers who looted gold worth Rs. 8 lakh and Rs. 2.3 lakh in cash on Tuesday night.

The police identified the victim as Selvi (40), wife of N.T. Arasu, proprietor of Balaji Borewell Agency situated at Anand Rao Circle. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) K.V. Sharathchandra told The Hindu on Wednesday that the assailants had stabbed Selvi in the neck with the sharp edge of a brass lamp after gagging her. The murder took place between 7.30 p.m. and 11 p.m.

There is evidence to indicate that the victim knew the murderers as she herself had opened the door for them. The guard dog, a German Shepherd, had not barked at them, Mr. Sharathchandra said. Ms. Selvi was last seen by a woman in the ground floor house who had spoken to her around 7.30 p.m. At the time of the gory crime, Mr. Arasu was attending a dinner along with his fellow Lions Club members. He returned around 11 p.m. and pressed the bell. When Selvi did not respond, he turned the door handle and found it was not locked. He looked for his wife and found her lying dead in the kitchen, the police said.

On being informed, Mr. Sharathchandra and other police officers rushed to the spot and recovered a blood-stained brass lamp near the body. The coin pendants from her kaasu sara lay scattered in the struggle.

The robbers had ransacked two safes in the house and made away with Rs. 1.4 lakh from one safe and Rs. 90,000 from the other. Besides, they had looted 820 gm of gold, including 500 gm in coins, the police said. Mr. Arasu had purchased 25 and 50 gm gold coins from the Corporation Bank some time ago, one of his friends told this reporter.

After autopsy at Victoria Hospital on Wednesday, Ms. Selvi’s body was taken to her native Salem. The Vijayanagar police have registered a case of murder. Two teams have been formed to trace the assailants, the police said.

The couple’s older son Raju (21), a MBA student, died in a road accident in RPC Layout in Vijayanagar eight months ago. Their other son, Raghvendra, is a student in Mysore. Mr. Arasu migrated to Bangalore from Salem in 1981 and married Ms. Selvi 23 years ago. Mr. Arasu is actively associated with the Lions Club and is a philanthropist, his friend said.

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