Bengaluru police have uncovered a chilling case of fratricide after the body of a 24-year-old man was found dumped near a lake earlier this month.
What initially appeared to be an unexplained death has now unraveled into a premeditated murder allegedly carried out by the victim’s own elder brother, with the help of two friends.
According to a report by NDTV, Dhanaraj (24) was killed inside a car by his brother Shivaraj (28), a cab driver from Kalaburagi district, along with two accomplices, Sandeep (24) and Prashanth (26).
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Police said the brothers had a long, troubled history, with Dhanaraj frequently involved in violent outbursts, thefts, drinking, and fights, behaviour that had caused repeated distress to both family members and neighbours, the report added.
Police said Dhanaraj lived with his parents in Kalaburagi and had a pattern of assaulting them during confrontations. He had also allegedly attacked Shivaraj several times. Locals had complained about Dhanaraj’s involvement in thefts, including stealing mobile phones and livestock.
Unable to cope with the continuous harassment, Shivaraj allegedly decided to eliminate his brother. On November 2, he called Dhanaraj to Bengaluru on the pretext of helping him find a job. The three accused picked him up from the Bannerghatta–NICE Road stretch. While Dhanaraj was seated in the front and distracted by his phone, Sandeep and Prashanth allegedly grabbed him from behind. Police say Shivaraj then struck him on the neck with a machete, killing him on the spot, the NDTV report added.
{{/usCountry}}Unable to cope with the continuous harassment, Shivaraj allegedly decided to eliminate his brother. On November 2, he called Dhanaraj to Bengaluru on the pretext of helping him find a job. The three accused picked him up from the Bannerghatta–NICE Road stretch. While Dhanaraj was seated in the front and distracted by his phone, Sandeep and Prashanth allegedly grabbed him from behind. Police say Shivaraj then struck him on the neck with a machete, killing him on the spot, the NDTV report added.
{{/usCountry}}The trio dumped the body along the Bannerghatta–Kaggalipura road and disposed of the car’s bloodstained floor mat and the murder weapon near the Electronic City–NICE Road.
On November 6, the decomposed body was found, initially raising suspicions of an unnatural death but not necessarily homicide. The breakthrough came when CCTV footage from a nearby private company captured the vehicle stopping and the body being dragged out. Bannerghatta police traced the car’s registration number and arrested all three accused.
A murder case has been registered, and the accused have been remanded to judicial custody.
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