Bengaluru: The Yelahanka police on Monday arrested a 44-year-old daily wage worker and three of his associates for the murder of a food delivery agent. The victim's body was discovered inside a rajakaluve (storm drain) in Yelahanka on Friday last week. Preliminary investigations revealed that he was strangled to death.
Reason Behind the Murder
Police officials stated that the murder was driven by the victim's persistent stalking and harassment of the daily wage worker's minor daughter. The accused, identified as Eeraiah Dundaiah, allegedly killed Ramesh Kumar, 36, a food delivery agent residing in Peenya, because Kumar had been pressuring the girl to marry him.
Sequence of Events
On Thursday night, Kumar visited a bar near Yelahanka with a few men. Later, he was murdered. Police investigations led them to four men who had accompanied Kumar to the bar, all of whom had fled to Bagalkot in north Karnataka. The suspects were detained and confessed to the crime.
According to the investigating officer, Eeraiah Dundaiah revealed that Ramesh Kumar had been harassing his minor daughter. In 2023, the girl had filed a complaint with Bagalkot police against Kumar for sexual harassment. Kumar was arrested and spent one year in judicial custody. However, even after his release, he continued to harass the girl, forcing the family to secretly relocate her to a relative's house in Yelahanka.
About a month ago, Kumar learned of the girl's whereabouts. He rented a room in Peenya and began working as a food delivery agent. The girl informed her father that Kumar was following her daily, demanding that she marry him.
The Murder
Dundaiah, along with three associates — Chinmaya Marapati, 29, Chetan Madar, 26, and Vinayaka Guruva, 19 — traveled from Bagalkot to Bengaluru on Thursday. They took Kumar to a bar, got him intoxicated, and later strangled him to death near the rajakaluve. They then dumped his body into the drain.
Police have arrested all four suspects and further investigations are ongoing.
