The accused in the rape of a techie in Electronic City, Shivaram Reddy, is the second cab driver in the city to be involved in heinous crime. In December 2010, cab driver Shiva Kumar was sentenced to life term for raping and murdering a BPO employee.
The victim, Pratibha Srikantamurthy was working in HP Global Soft at Electronic City. She was abducted, raped and murdered on December 13, 2005 when she was on her way to office to start her night shift. Shiva Kumar, the driver of the cab assigned to transport staff members, drove to an isolated spot in Anajanapura Layout where he raped and slit her throat. Her body was found three days later.
The crime had sent shockwave throughout the IT/ITES industry and other organisations, which then put in place a framework to protect their women employees.
However, a senior police officer, who is part of the PG rape case, said that though both the cases are heinous in nature, they are different. “While it was the first case that Shiva Kumar was involved in, Shivarama Reddy is a habitual offender who is involved in over half a dozen cases.”
Modus operandiExplaining his modus operandi, the officer said, “Reddy used to scout paying guest accommodations, targeting working women. This is because the women are easy targets and would not be able to put up much of a fight.”
Reddy would stalk young couples in picnic spots, like parks, Bannerghatta and other areas, and click their pictures. He would later extort money by threatening to publicise the pictures, police said. Many victims did not complain fearing bad publicity, the officer said.
During the course of the investigation, police found that Reddy had been involved in over half a dozen cases of extortion and robbery registered in Adugodi, Varthur, Mahadevapura and other police stations on the outskirts of the city, said Deputy Commissioner of police (South East) T. D. Pawar.
