Relatives of Karthik Vishnu, a freelance software professional from Mathamputhur near here who was stabbed to death at Bangalore on New Year day, were clueless about the reasons that led to his murder. A few of them suspect that it was a planned murder.
“The Karnataka police did not give us any details of the incident till Wednesday evening. They have been repeatedly saying that the findings of the investigation will be disclosed through the media,” R. Sekar, brother-in-law of the deceased, told The Hindu .
An alumnus of Sainik School, Amaravathinagar, Karthik had partied with seven of his friends, many of whom were also alumni of the school, at a hotel in Bangalore just before his death, which was said to have occurred between 1.15 a.m. and 1.45 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the information obtained by the relatives.
“We were informed of the murder only at 7 a.m. by a few other friends of Karthik, Mr. Sekar said.
A relative of Karthik, who rushed to Bangalore on hearing the news, told this paper that the video footage at the hotel, available till the party ended at 1 a.m., showed Karthik dancing with his seven other friends, including a serving defence personnel.
It meant that the murder took place minutes after they came out of the partying floor. The watchman of the hotel first noticed Karthik lying bleeding outside the hotel with nobody around him.
These circumstances along with the nature of injury — a stab right into the heart and through the left side of the chest — make us suspect that it was a “planned murder”, he said.
Pall of gloom
Mathamputhur wore a gloomy look on Wednesday with neighbours and relatives remembering Karthik as a soft-spoken, well-mannered youth. They recalled that he had left for Bangalore on December 27 for professional work.
He has been working out of home, developing software solutions as a freelancer for various companies after completing B.E. in Computer Science from Coimbatore Institute of Engineering and Information Technology, the family members said.
