Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore (GA)

Mangalore, Jan 8: The Mulki police led by Panambur DySP Pitambar Heraje, Mulki circle inspector Manjunath Shetty and SI Sudarshan have successfully cracked the mystery behind the murder of a tanker driver whose body was found thrown at Kolnad near Mulki recently.

The police have arrested two persons who have said to have confessed that they had killed the tanker driver Sangar Pandya of Tamil Nadu origin.  The accused have been identified as Gopal Naik and Ganapathi Hegde of Sirsi.

Background

The Mulki police had received an anonymous call on the midnight of December 30 informing that a person was thrown out from a moving tanker near Shri Chandramoulishwar Temple at Kolnad.  The police immediately went to the place and after searching they found a dead body.  The report of the same along with the photo of the dead person was published in premier newspapers on the very next day.

Based on this, the person was identified as Sangar Pandya of Tamil Nadu who was working as driver in Hegde Bulk Carriers at Suratkal.  However, nothing was known about the murderers.  But the police had initiated investigation under the presumption that the murder could have been the result of personal rivalry.

Accordingly, they shifted the investigation towards other drivers of the same company and particularly on those who had travelled on the night of December 30. Based on the preliminary investigation police found out that Gopal Naik and Ganapathi had clash with Sangar on December 30 evening at a restaurant.  When police interrogated them, they confessed their crime.

Sangar was assaulted when he was under the influence of alcohol.  He was later brought on the tanker while still being unconscious.  On the way, the duo strangled him to death with the help of a towel and threw his body out from tanker at Kolnad.

The Mulki police had registered a case in this regard and had initiated the enquiry.