Bantwal: Murderer on a Rampage kills Two Sleeping Colleagues, injures one

Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, Sep 3: In a macabre incident that occurred at Ramalkatte near Tumbe near here in the early hours on Thursday September 3, a man went berserk and bludgeoned two of his sleeping colleagues with a hammer and injured the third one, with the same weapon. Thanks to an alarm raised by the third man who got up before major harm could be done to him, four others who were sleeping in the same house were shaken out of their slumber. They then ran away to safety.

Eight technicians working at a pumphouse that is under construction by KUDCEMP for managing water supply system to the city, live together in an accommodation provided to them there. All of them belong to West Bengal. Prahlad, one among them, was suddenly woken up because of some sound at around 4.30 am today, and saw that Safal Konai, one of his colleagues who was working on the night shift, who looked normal the previous night, had suddenly turned violent, and had killed two of his sleeping colleagues named Manik Konai (40) and Hekant Mondel(32), by hitting their heads with a hammer. Prahlad, who was frightened by the ghastly scene, raised an alarm and ran away, but was injured in the head, when Safal Konai swung the hammer at him. In the meanwhile, the others too got up and ran helter skelter to save themselves from the menacing moves of Safal Konai, it is learnt. They alerted the neighbourers including other workers of the project, who gathered together and tied up the murderer, who had developed cold feet by then and climbed up a nearby pole, to a gate. He was arrested by the Bantwal policemen later.

It is learnt, that Manik was in critical condition and died while being brought out of their shed, while Hemant had died on the spot. Hemant and Manik had worked in the day shift on Wednesday.

The superintendent of police Dr S Subrahmanyeshwar Rao, circle inspector Nanjunde Gowda etc., visited the spot. Reasons for the murder are not known, although it is said that Safal was behaving like a mentally unsound man while behaving violently. A case has been registered at Bantwal rural police station.