A a small-time exhibitor and distributor of films was found dead at his room opposite Movieland theatre in Gandhinagar on Saturday.
The police identified the dead man as Hanumantha Kattimani (35), who had founded the Karmika Paryaya Vedike, a cine workers’ forum, which is now defunct.
Hanumantha Kattimani was staying in a room in a building in A.R. Extension in Gandhinagar.
The murder came to light when one of the tenants, Chandru, opened Kattimani’s room and found him strangulated with a wire, the police said. Besides Kattimani, the building was occupied by two other tenants identified as Chandru, who ran a studio, and Prince, an artist. Chandru and Prince would leave home at 7 p.m. every day to return at 11 a.m. According to Chandru, he went to Kattimani’s room at around 2 p.m. on Saturday. Despite repeated knocking, when he did not get any response, Chandru opened the door using the keys left outside the locked door. When he went inside, he found Hanumantha Kattimani strangulated with a wire. He alerted the Upparpet police, who rushed to the spot with a forensic team.
According to the police, Hanumantha Kattimani had moved into the room as recently as a month ago.
