Puttur murder case – Police almost sure Venkataramana killed family

Puttur murder case – Police almost sure Venkataramana killed family

Mangalore Today News Network

Puttur, June 16, 2012: The Puttur police are almost sure that Venkataramana Bhat killed his wife and three children before fleeing from the village on June 12, Tuesday. The bodies were discovered only on June 14, Thursday.

According to unconfirmed reports, Venkataramana, who has been absconding ever since the murder, might have committed suicide.

Sandhya, wife of Venkataramana, and their children Vedya, Vinutha, and Harigovind were found murdered in their house on June 14, Thursday. An electricity bill collector found their bodies.

The police found syringes on the crime scene, which made them suspect that Venkataramana might have injected them with sleeping medicine before killing them.

The police also found a bucket full of bloody water in the courtyard of the house, which indicated that Venkataramana might have washed his hands and weapons after killing his family.

On June 4, Venkataramana had lodged a complaint with the Puttur police, stating that someone had stolen Rs. 50,000 and seven sovereigns of gold from his house, but police investigation revealed that Ventaramana had lodged a false complaint.

The police suspect that Venktaramana might have killed his family out of fear that they might tell the police that he had lodged a false complaint. The police had already interrogated all the members of the family.

Venkataramana had also recruited a woman called Vimala to assist him with computer work. However, when she reported for work on the day of the murder, Ventaramana told her to go back home. When she asked him about his family, he lost his temper and literally chased her away, warning her not to come to his house again.

A surprised Vimala told her father Krishnappa Naik about her employer’s strange behavior, and Krishnappa visited Venkataramana the following day. However, he had to return home as nobody answered the door. Later, Krishnappa related the entire incident to the police, who have now confirmed that neither Krishnappa nor Vimala have anything to do with the murder.

On June 4, Venkataramana had complained that his mobile phone has been stolen, but the police found out that he had been regularly calling Vimala from his mobile every night. When the police interrogated Vimala, she said that her employer used to make work-related calls to her every night.

The police have also found out that Venkataramana and his wife used to quarrel regularly after June 4. While searching the house for clues, they also found porn CDs in Venkataramana’s computer room.