The Brahmavara police in Udupi district have arrested the absconding contract killer involved in the July 12, 2021, murder of Vishala Ganiga, who was alone at her apartment in Kumragodu village. Her husband Ramakrishna Ganiga had allegedly hired contract killers to kill his wife while he was abroad.
Police gave the name of the arrested person as Rohith Rana Pratap Nishad alias Sonu, 21, son of Rana Pratap, resident of Gandevi in Maharashtra. He was arrested from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, police said.
Swaminath Nishad from Gorakhpur and Sonu had allegedly killed Vishana brutally and decamped with Manala Suthra, golden bangles etc., to show it as a murder for gain. However, upon investigation, police learnt Vishala’s husband Ramakrishna had hired contractor killers to eliminate her.
Ramakrishna and Swaminath were in judicial custody since a year at the Hiriyadka jail while police have submitted the charge-sheet against them. However, Sonu remained absconding even as his parents had given a missing complaint at the Gandevi police Station. Police team led by Brahmavara Circle Inspector of Police Ananthapadmanabha, PSI Gurunath Hadimani and others arrested him after making several efforts to track him across the country.
Hit and run
A 57-year-old woman died on the spot after an unknown vehicle hit him near Kashimutt Cross, Hemmady in Kundapura taluk on National Highway-66 in the wee hours of July 9.
Police gave the name of the deceased as Chandu, resident of Yalajith village in Byndoor taluk. Her son Chandrashekhara, 32, complained to the police that his mother was walking on the flanks of the highway when the unknown vehicle moving from Byndoor towards Kundapura hit her and sped away at around 1 a.m.
Kundapura traffic police have registered a case and are investigating.
