In a case that has sent the city police into a tizzy, an Avenue Road-based jeweller, who was allegedly kidnapped late on Tuesday night, was found brutally murdered on Wednesday morning in Dobbespet off National Highway 4 (Tumkur Road).
According to the Nelamanagala police, the body of Nitesh Behra (36) was found in the ditch on the side of a bylane off the highway around 10 a.m. His throat was slit, and he had bled to death, said the police.
Anatomy of the kidnap
Nitesh used to run BRN Jewellery store on Mallikarjunappa Street off Avenue Road, which polishes precious stones and sells jewellery.
Around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, he told workers at the store that he was going out for tea. When he didn't return, the workers closed the shop around 10.30 p.m. assuming he had gone home, said the police.
However, around the same time, his wife, Uma Behra, who was at their residence in Bangiappa Gardens in Shantinagar, received a phone call from Nitesh telling her that he was still in the store. He then instructed her to hand over jewellery in their house to an “associate” who would come on his scooter, said the police.
According to the complaint she filed in the Ashoknagar police, she had handed over 80 gm of gold jewellery worth more than Rs. 2.5 lakh and Rs. 2,000 to the man on the scooter. “She described him as being around 18 years of age,” said a police official. Nitesh later called to tell her that he would be delayed as he was busy with some “issue.”
However, around 12.30 a.m. when Nitesh hadn't returned, Uma panicked and called his phone only to find it switched off. She then called the police.
According to the investigating officers, the last call had been made from within city limits itself. On Wednesday morning, City Police Commissioner B.G. Jyothi Prakash Mirji had announced that three police teams had been formed to trace the missing jeweller.
