Caught for murder after 16 years

Mangalore Today/ DHNS

Bangalore, Dec 5, 2012 : A man who evaded arrest for over a decade after he was sentenced to life for murdering his classmate and girlfriend here 16 years ago has landed in police net.

The convict, Rajesh Kumar Kaimal, had been in Dubai all these years. Eventually he lowered his guard and came to Kerala. A police team from Bangalore took full advantage of it and arrested him, posing as passport officials.

 

The sensational murder case had shaken the City in 1996. Kaimal, then a hotel management student, had stabbed his classmate and girlfriend after she broke up with him. Students of Kandandale Krishnarao Memorial Hotel Management Institute run by Woodlands Hotel, Kaimal, then 24 years, and Pooja Kher from New Delhi were in a relationship.

However, Pooja broke up with Rajesh when he turned possessive and started ill-treating her. On March 30, that year, at the college annual day celebrations, she refused to even speak to him. As Pooja went into her hostel room, an enraged Rajesh followed her and stabbed her to death.

The Sampangirama Nagar police registered a murder case and arrested Rajesh. However, he came out on bail and then went  absconding. Rajesh was acquitted for want of evidence by a sessions court in 2001. The State government appealed to the High Court and got him sentenced to life  in 2008.

Rajesh, however,  went to Dubai and was still at large.

The case was almost forgotten but not by courts. The High Court issued a non-bailable warrant in 2008 and directed the City Civil Court to arrest  him. The court issued many warrants in vain. Recently, Justice Sudhindra Rao issued another non-bailable warrant and directed the Bangalore police to produce Rajesh before December 5.

The police began a man hunt. They met the then principal of the institute, Jemshed Surti, who is now Vice-President of Woodlands Group. This led them to Bangalore University, where they obtained Rajesh’s academic records. The police then checked the online database at the passport office and found that Rajesh had got a passport from Pathanamthitta, Kerala.

A special team led by Sampangirama Nagar Inspector B Ramamurthy, posing as passport officials,  went to verify the the address given by Rajesh in his passport and trapped him.
Rajesh was produced before the Court on Tuesday and Justice Sudheendra Rao sent him to 14-day judicial custody.

Surti told Deccan Herald: “The City police have done a tremendous job. I want the girl’s parents to be informed.”

The City police have promised to trace the parents and inform them of the murderer being brought to book finally.