It was a random phone call that came to the Marathahalli police station inquiring about the death of a woman that helped solve a case of a woman’s murder, earlier registered as a case of unnatural death of an unidentified woman in Varthur police station limits on July 6.
Police sub-inspector Dharnesh and constable Prabhu, attached to the police station, were recently awarded for cracking the case, tracking the accused through Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra for 10 days before finally nabbing him.
They were among 18 police personnel felicitated by the Whitefield division police for taking up challenging cases and cracking them using technical expertise.
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How it unfolded
A highly decomposed body was found by passers-by who alerted the police. They registered a case of murder and checked cases of missing people in and around the city, but in vain.
The Marathahalli police told Mr. Dharnesh they got a call from a person in Assam inquiring about the death of his daughter. But there was no such case.
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Mr. Dharnesh called up the person, who turned out to be the father of the deceased. The police identified her as Monalita Saikya, 25, from Gopalpur who had come to the city with her husband Nagen Barua six years ago in search of a job. While Nagen took up the work of a security guard at a private agency, Saikya was a homemaker. The couple lived in a rented house in Doddaknelli with their six-year-old son.
In the first week of July, Nagen allegedly caught Saikya with another man in the house, and in a fit of rage, strangulated her to death. He buried the body in an isolated place and returned to his hometown with his son.
Nagen lied to his in-laws that Saikya committed suicide over a family fight. He said a case was registered in Marathahalli and he had returned to their hometown after cremating the body. Little did he know that his in-laws would contact the police. Mr. Dharnesh and Mr. Prabhu went to Saikya’s parents’ house. Sensing trouble, Nagen had fled to Madhya Pradesh, but Mr. Dharmesh tracked him based on call records.
Though Nagen fled again, this time to Mumbai, the police caught up with him. With the help of the local police and his photograph, Nagen was caught and brought to Bengaluru. He was charged for murder and remanded in judicial custody.
This is one of several cases where police personnel of various ranks, from police constables to sub-inspector, have cracked difficult cases, M.N. Anucheth, Deputy Commissioner of Police, (Whitefield division), said.
The personnel were given certificates of appreciation, along with cash reward.