The Tumakuru police have said that they have cracked a triple murder case and arrested a gang of eight persons, including the prime accused Patharaju alias Rajaguru Kumar, 35, a self-proclaimed priest of Sira Gate, on the charge of murdering three people from Belthangady taluk in a row over treasure recently.
The deceased were identified as Ishaq Simam, 54, Shahul Hameed, 45, and Siddique Abdul Khadar, 34.
According to the police, they had contacted Patharaju and paid him ₹6 lakh after he promised to get access to the hidden treasure through his source. The accused then began to avoid the trio even after many deadlines, following which the trio threatened to file a complaint with the police.
The accused allegedly roped in a gang of college dropouts and unemployed youth in his area, offering them three kilos of gold and called the trio to come and get the treasure. The trio borrowed their friend’s car and reached Beeranakallu, coming under Kora police station limits, where the accused, armed with weapons, waited for them. As soon as the trio reached the spot, the accused attacked and hacked them to death, and carried the bodies in their car to the Kuchangi lakebed area and set the car on fire, said the police.
A police team, led by Superintendent of Police Ashok K.V., identified the victims from the car registration number and later tracked down the accused .
The accused, Gangaraju, 35, Madhusudhan, 24, Naveen, 24, Krishna, 22, Ganesh, 19, Kiran, 23, and Simon, 18, were charged with murder and destruction of evidence. The police are further investigating to ascertain Patharaju’s criminal background.
