Three persons, including the grandson of the victims, were arrested on Wednesday after a dramatic showdown as police launched a manhunt following the murder of an elderly couple at Marathahalli.
Barely 20 hours after the murder was known, police narrowed down on Pramod, who is the grandson of the slain couple, and his friends Praveen and Hasan Pasha at a house at Yamlur nearby. However, as the police attempted to close in, Hasan Pasha attacked the police and attempted to flee. A sub-Inspector of the Mahadevapura Police Station shot Pasha in the leg, said the police.
On Tuesday evening, the bodies of Saroja K. (60) and her husband Govindan (65), a retired employee of BEL, were found at their home at Ashwathnagar, Marathahalli. Police said they had been stabbed multiple times in the kitchen, leaving behind a gory mess. Saroja’s father is said to have owned over 50 acres in Marathahalli, and a squabble had broken out within the family.
Based on the decomposition on the bodies, the police had believed the murder had happened a few days ago. Three teams were formed, and with the arrest a few hours later, the accused revealed more details. The trio had entered from the back door and found the couple in the kitchen. “The accused murdered the couple on November 26 around 3 p.m., switched on the gas in the hope of igniting the place and destroying evidence,” said Abdul Ahad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Whitefield. The place did not ignite, even though ash marks could be seen on the curtains.
Tip-off by neighbours
The accumulating gas is what triggered neighbours. Around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, a passer-by informed Kartik, who stays in the house adjacent to the house of the victim, that there was a strong smell of gas in the area. “We checked our kitchen, and then a lot of us got out to the street as the smell was becoming stronger. We figured it was from Govindan’s house, but the door was locked. We called his daughter - who stays on the same premises - and she entered through the back door. She started screaming immediately,” said Kartik.
Govindan’s daughter told the police that she had assumed her parents had gone to a temple in Kancheepuram - which had been planned earlier this week - and had not checked on them since Monday.
