Nine months on, anonymous letter leads cops to 27-year-old man’s kidnap, murder in Karnataka

BENGALURU: A man whose family thought he had left the city in search of a job in March, was kidnapped and tortured to death, police have found. An anonymous letter to cops in November, tipping them off about the youth vanishing after being abducted, has culminated in the arrest of five suspects.
The murdered youth is Sharath Kumar, 27, of Harinagar in Konanakunte.His parents are daily-wage workers. Police had earlier arrested Kumar in three cheating cases.
Police said Kumar was kidnapped on March 21 morning. He was locked up in a farmhouse owned by the prime accused and tortured. He died on March 29 and the accused bundled the body into a gunny bag, took it in a car to Charmadi Ghat, and dumped it in a gorge. A police team will leave for Charmadi Ghat to trace the skeletal remains.
The arrested are prime suspects Venkatachalapati and his son Sharat Kumar from Chikkaballapur and their associates Dhanush, Sanketh and Manjunath, all from north Bengaluru. All five have been sent to 10-day police custody.
Investigation revealed Kumar had cheated many people to the tune of Rs 20 lakh by falsely promising them to get four-wheeler loans without interest. About 10 men had paid Rs 2 lakh each to him last year.
“The men became angry when Kumar failed to get the loan. Some of them contacted Venkatachalapati and he assured them of getting the money back. Venkatachalapati’s son and his associates kidnapped Kumar and locked him at Venkatachalapati’s farmhouse near Chikkaballapur. Kumar died in their captivity,” an investigating officer said.
In March last week, Kumar’s father received a call from his son, who said: “I am going to other states in search of jobs. Don’t search for me or try to contact me.” Since then, Kumar’s cellphone was off. Believing Kumar, his parents never filed a police complaint.
Late November, an anonymous letter reached assistant commissioner of police, Cubbon Park, Rajendra DS. The letter, in Kannada, said police should investigate the case of Harinagar resident Kumar going missing. Kumar’s parents were traced and they told cops about the last message from their son. Soon, a special team unravelled the murder.
Who wrote the anonymous letter?
Unconfirmed reports said the accused had videographed Kumar being tortured and the same got leaked. Using the video, a Chikkaballapur resident tried to extort money from Venkatachalapati, but in vain. The same man is believed to have written the letter.