Bangalore: TV Actor Murder Case Solved
Bangalore, Dec 15 (DHNS): It just took a contract killer’s drunken babble for the city cops to zero in on the man arranged for the murder of his television-actor wife.
A sozzled Anil, who had taken supari to eliminate Manjula, blurted out some hard-kept secrets about Yogesh, the Kannada actor’s husband, at a bar in Basaveshwarnagar recently. And the eavesdroppers didn’t waste a minute to inform the police about the heinous murder and its perpetrators.
On Tuesday, the Central Crime Branch police arrested Yogesh and five others, and recovered huge amount of unaccounted cash.
In July last, Yogesh, 33, filed a complaint with the Nandini Layout police that his wife had gone missing. He even told the police she could have probably travelled abroad for television shooting, without informing him. The police then closed the case as they failed to make any breakthrough. And that’s when one of the accused, Anil, gave away vital clues in the case.
Background
Manjula, a native of Hosanagar in Shimoga, had two daughters from her first husband. According to police, there was a big age difference between the couple and this is said to have soured their relationship. Manjula landed in Bangalore and took shelter at her twin sister Mamatha’s house in Indiranagar. Her pretty looks and impressive articulation fetched her a few small roles in Kannada movies –– Prana, Appu and Omkara. She also got better and bigger roles in mega-serials like Guptagamini and Gowtami.
At the peak of her career, Manjula met Yogesh who was operating a coffee joint (vending machine) in Indiranagar. The two fell in love and were dating for nearly two years. Since she already had two children, Yogesh was hesitant to inform his parents about their affair. So, the two decided to leave Manjula’s children at Mamatha’s house and moved to Nandini Layout. After some time, the children also joined them.
Manjula also ran a beauty parlour and boutique. Using her contacts, she got Yogesh some BBMP civil contract works and within a short time, he was making huge profits.
Marriage on rocks
Differences cropped up between the couple after Yogesh started misbehaving with Manjula’s elder daughter. When he didn’t heed to her pleas to stay away from her daughter, she approached the police. But when that didn’t work, she threatened to call a press conference and go public.
Fearing dire consequences, Yogesh planned to eliminate her and took the help of his workers Vikram alias Loki (29), Prakash (25), Anil (22), Radeesh (26) and Aruna (22).
On July 10, around 4 am, the five sneaked into Manjula’s house as Yogesh opened the door. While the children were sleeping in another bedroom, the five gagged her and strangled her to death using a veil.
The gang transported the body in Yogesh’s car and disposed it of near Arkavathi lake bed area near Tavarekere. After they returned, Yogesh got into an argument with them as he had paid them Rs six lakh to burn the body. The next day, the gang packed the body and buried it.
Huge cash unearthed
The CCB sleuths also recovered Rs 52 lakh unaccounted cash from Yogesh’s house and nearly Rs 60,000 worth of gold jewellery which belonged to Manjula. The car, which was used to transport the body, was also seized.
Fuming relatives
Meanwhile, the victim’s relatives were fuming at the police after hearing a different story that tarnished Manjula’s character. A senior officer said Yogesh decided to get rid of Manjula as she was addicted to alcohol and smoking. He also doubted her character as she had influential contacts.
“Manjula was four months’ pregnant when she was killed. The cops have failed to take note of this and have not recorded it. It could have been vital to take the case to its logical end,” said another relative.