Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady
Updated
Beltangady, Jan 11: An elderly couple was found bludgeoned to death at Kakkinje here on Monday January 11.
The deceased have been identified as Varghese (94) and his wife Eliyamma (85), residents near a petrol pump at Kakkinje.
Prima facie, it is said to be a case of robbery and murder.
The couple was reportedly strangled and beaten to death with heavy sticks.
Varghese's body was found about 100 metres away from his residence, close to an adjacent school ground. Prima facie, it seemed like he was strangled with a cloth and then hit on the head. Eliyamma's body was found in a room inside the house and she too seemed to have been murdered in a similar manner.
The house was ransacked, with clothes and papers strewn all over the place. The robbers broke open the cupboards and pulled down their contents, and it is suspected that they took away all the gold ornaments as well as a gold chain that Eliyamma was wearing.
It is learnt that Varghese and Eliyam were living by themselves in the house, while their children are staying elsewhere, with one daughter living abroad. There are no houses nearby either. Sources said that a maid used to come daily for housework and for watering the plantation. It is only when the maid came to work on Monday morning that the incident came to light. It is surmised that the couple was murdered on the night of Sunday January 10.
SP Sharanappa, Bantwal ASP Rahul Kumar, Beltangady circle inspector B R Lingappa and other police personnel along with canine squad rushed to the spot. Forensic and fingerprint experts were also called.
The canine squad followed the scent through the school ground and then entered an inner lane leading up to Kakkinje town. The dogs stopped near a drain close to the circle and took a round of the area. The locals expressed suspicions that as the canine squad caught the scent through an inner lane, a local familiar with the place might have committed the crime.
The bodies were shifted to a private hospital in Mangaluru for post-mortem.
Speaking to mediapersons, SP Sharanappa said that on the face of it, the double murder seemed to have been committed for robbery. "We have taken this case seriously. A team has been formed under the leadership of ASP Rahul Kumar to investigate the case and we are confident that the culprits would be caught within a couple of days," he said.
Beltangady police have registered a case and investigations are on.