The city rural railway police on July 26 cracked the murder case of a 70-year-old woman who was allegedly strangled to death by her daughter-in-law and paramour.
The accused dumped the body on the railway track on the outskirts of Tumakuru to make it look like an accidental death, the police said. They also dumped the severed head of the deceased in a tiles-laden truck, which was later found in Ilkal, 350 km away.
Detailed investigations led the police to zero in on M.B. Balachandra, 42, a bus conductor from Tumakuru, and Latha, daughter-in-law of the deceased, and recovered gold valuables belonging to the deceased and ₹6,000 cash.
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ADGP railways Bhaskar Rao said the deceased, Ningamma, a resident of Tubinakere in Mandya district, was missing since July 19 after she went to her daughter-in-law’s house to collect her dues. The police recovered the highly mutilated body the next day, and got it identified by the deceased’s second son T.M. Satish from Tubinakere.
According to the police, Latha, aged around 40, a resident of Kyathasandra, held a grudge against Ningamma and owed her ₹1.5 lakh and monthly maintenance from the property belonging to her husband.
After the death of her husband, Latha was in a relationship with Balachandra and Ningamma objected to it. Unable to bear this, Latha hatched the plan with Balachandra.
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