Pramesh S Jain
In a rare murder case in which the victim’s body was never recovered,the city civil and session court has sentenced two men to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs.30,000 each for the abduction and alleged murder of a woman in 2021 over a property dispute.
The deceased,K.Seetha,a resident of Gayathrinagar under Subramanyanagar police station limits,was allegedly targeted after she refused to cooperate with the sale or transfer of a family property.
According to the prosecution,Seetha was taken from Bengaluru on March 26,2021,on the pretext of travelling to Hassan to purchase jewellery.
While travelling towards Bellur Cross and later towards Hosapete,she was allegedly attacked and injured.
The accused then allegedly mixed Cyanide with medicine and administered it to her on the pretext of providing treatment.
She died after consuming it,following which her body was allegedly disposed of in a canal near Hosapete.
The body was never recovered despite searches,and the prosecution case was therefore built on circumstantial, technical and other evidence.
The prosecution alleged that Seetha was involved in a dispute over family property in Mantralayam.
While other family members wanted to sell the property, she refused to part with her share.
Investigators alleged that repeated attempts were made to persuade her to agree to the transaction before a conspiracy was allegedly hatched to eliminate her.
The investigation pointed to an alleged conspiracy involving four men—S.Noor Ahmed,a realtor from Mantralayam,Satyanarayana alias Sathya,Raghu alias Mental Raghu and Bestakumar.
According to the prosecution,Noor Ahmed had entered into an agreement to sell two acres of land to the son of a politician.
Seetha,however,allegedly refused to sign the documents during registration.Investigators alleged that Noor Ahmed offered Rs.8 lakh as supari for her murder and paid Rs.2 lakh in advance.
The prosecution alleged that the accused took Seetha along with them and,during the journey,attacked her with a stone.
They allegedly told her that she needed medical treatment and subsequently administered medicine mixed with Cyanide,resulting in her death.
The police relied on call detail records,CCTV footage and other technical evidence to reconstruct Seetha’s movements and establish the links between the accused.
Investigators also traced jewellery allegedly removed from Seetha after her death and subsequently pledged at a jewellery shop,which formed part of the evidence against the accused.
A murder case was registered at Subramanyanagar police station on November 24, 2021.
The investigation was conducted by then Police Inspector,H.B.Sanjeev Gowda and his team,who subsequently filed the charge sheet.
After hearing the arguments,the court found the surviving accused—S.Noor Ahmed,43,and Satyanarayana alias Sathya,39 guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment.The court also imposed a fine of Rs.30,000 on each.
The other two accused,Raghu alias Mental Raghu and Bestakumar,died during the pendency of the proceedings.
Special Public Prosecutor,Shailaja K.Naik represented the prosecution.She argued that the prosecution had established Seetha’s death and the involvement of the accused through a chain of circumstantial and technical evidence despite the non-recovery of her body.
The case resulted in a murder conviction despite the victim’s remains never being recovered.
