Udupi: Auto Driver Ranjit D'souza's Murder-suspect held
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (Sp)
Udupi, Mar 30: The Manipal police have succeeded in arresting Mallesh(18) from Bellary, accused of killing rickshaw driver Ranjit D'Souza (30), a resident of Permapally Kelapodipatla near here on the night of March 25 at Sagrigudde. He was arrested on Sunday March 29.
Udupi additional superintendent of police Kashinath Talakeri, deputy superintendent of police Vishwanath Pandit and Manipal police inspector B G Achar informed the media men at a press conference held here on Sunday March 29, that the murder was committed due to a dispute between the two about a girl from Mangalore with whom the two used to have telephonic conversations.
Mallesh from Bellary works in a grocery shop at Perampally Patla and became a friend of Ranjit D'Souza who lived near there. Both of them started speaking to a girl because of a missed call. Over a period of time, the girl is said to have grown friendlier to Ranjit, a fact Mallesh found it impossible to digest. Strangely, none of them had ever seen the girl and did not know anything much about her, as conversations were held over telephone.
After Ranjit told Mallesh that the girl had informed him of her inclination to file a complaint against the latter, Mallesh grew jealous and angry and murdered Ranjit by inviting him to a thicket at Permapally on the night of March 25. He is said to have first smashed Ranjit's head with a boulder and then pulled the rickshaw over his private parts to make doubly sure that he is killed.
The policemen said they could trace the murderer on the basis of a mobile phone they retrieved from the murder site.