Karnataka: Two arrested in murder case of tahsildar's mother

Bengaluru: The Channapatana Town police have arrested two people, including a woman, in connection with the murder of a tahsildar’s mother, who was done to death for financial gain and political rivalry by the two at their house in Channapatna in Ramanagara on July 6.

The arrested are Hemanth Kumar, 36, and Shobha, 32, both residents of Channapatana. The duo, who had murdered Puttathayamma alias Thayamma, 70, the mother of Channapatana tahsildar, were arrested on Sunday. The police have also recovered a gold chain and four bangles from the accused.

Hemanth was nursing a grudge against Puttathayamma, who was also a president of the Milk Dairy Society in Channapatana for the last three years. Hemanth’s mother, identified as Geetha, had contested the gram panchayat elections, but Puttathayamma had refused to extend her support, despite repeated pleas from them.

Since then, there was rivalry between Geetha, who was also holding the post of secretary at the Milk Dairy Society, and Puttathayamma. The two frequently fought with each other, the police said.

A few days before the murder, Geetha was allegedly involved in a verbal spat with Puttathayamma, who humiliated her in public. An infuriated Geetha told her son Hemanth about the incident and he then hatched a plot along with his paramour Shobha to eliminate Puttathayamma.

The duo kept a close watch on Puttathayamma and on Wednesday when they found her alone at her house they bludgeoned her to death and made away with the gold jewellery.   

The Channapatna Town police, who had taken up a case of murder for gain, alerted all the jewelers and pawn brokers, including banks, in the area. While the probe was underway, the police learnt about a gold chain being mortgaged in a bank.

The team swung into action, took details of the people who had mortgaged it and found Hemanth’s ID proof. Based on his call records and the other credible evidence, the police picked up Hemanth, who spilled the beans when subjected to questioning. His statement led to the arrest of Shobha, the police said.

Puttathayamma was found dead at her quarters around 2.30 pm on July 6. The assailants had attacked her with a digging bar and had fled from the spot after robbing her of jewels, the police said. Her son Ramesh reached home for lunch and found his mother lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen. He immediately informed the police.

Senior police officers, including DySP Ramanagara Dhananjay, rushed to the spot and conducted an inquest along with Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL).