A security guard in Mysuru district who murdered a 63-year-old woman for her gold ornaments worth Rs 7.5 lakh attempted to disguise the crime as a leopard attack. However, his plan unraveled within five days as police reconstructed the events, leading to his arrest on Saturday.
Incident details
According to Nanjangud Rural police, Shivarudramma, a resident of Kasuvinahalli, went missing on May 25 after leaving home for her agricultural land. Police registered a missing complaint and launched a search operation.
During the investigation, some villagers informed police that Mahadevappa, 58, who worked as a security guard on a local farm, might have information about the incident. Based on this tip, a police team picked up Mahadevappa for questioning. Since the deceased woman's gold and silver ornaments weighing 53 grams were missing, police also questioned the guard about the missing jewelry.
Confession and reconstruction
With mounting pressure, Mahadevappa, who was not initially a suspect, concocted a story about a leopard attack. However, the story had many inconsistencies. During further interrogation, he confessed that on the day of the incident, Shivarudramma asked him to help pluck leaves of a Bilvapatra tree to offer at a local Shiva temple. Seeing her gold and silver ornaments, he decided to rob her.
Police said Mahadevappa told Shivarudramma that offering sandalwood leaves is sacred to Lord Shiva and that they were available on the farm where he worked. When she accompanied him, he pushed her into a rainwater-harvesting trench, murdered her, and hid the ornaments in another trench.
Fake pug marks
The suspect then used a twig to create pug marks in the mud around the farm to simulate the presence of a wild animal. However, police knew the area had no history of wild animal attacks, and the evidence pointed to a murder for gain.
