The Kumbalgod police have arrested a 22-year-old man for allegedly stabbing his female friend in her house on Wednesday night. He allegedly robbed her of ₹30,000 which he needed to replace the money he had stolen from his workplace.
According to the police, the victim, Kavya, had quit her job with Mahalakshmi Cooperative Society and gone to live with her mother at Kumbalgod to help with her sister who was raising a school-going son.
The accused, Venkatesh, worked in the same cooperative society but was sacked three months ago for allegedly misappropriating ₹85,000 from the cooperative. His employees gave him a few months to return the money, failing which they said they would take legal action against him. By Wednesday, he had managed return ₹45,000 to the bank.
That evening, he learnt that Kavya had received ₹30,000 recently. He got the information from her boyfriend.
Venkatesh went to Kavya’s house at around 9.30 p.m., allegedly stabbed her 20 to 25 times and ran off with the ₹30,000. He tried to mislead the police stating that he had seen two men on a bike the night Kavya was stabbed.
Sniffer dogs in action
Meanwhile, the police had started suspecting Venkatesh’s role on learning that he had misappropriated money from the society. He was detained and he reportedly confessed to the crime during interrogation.
“We have recovered the money from him. After committing the crime, he got rid of his blood-stained clothes and the murder weapon at an isolated location in the neighbourhood. Sniffer dogs followed by the scent, and we recovered the items,” a police officer said.
