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Old allies planned and murdered former BJP corporator, say police
Bengaluru: Police investigating the murder of Rekha Kadiresh, the 45-year-old former corporator who was hacked to death on June 24, have said that personal rivalry is the motive behind the murder
Bengaluru: Police investigating the murder of Rekha Kadiresh, the 45-year-old former corporator who was hacked to death on June 24, have said that personal rivalry is the motive behind the murder. So far, police have arrested seven people including Rekha’s sister-in-law in the case.
Talking to HT, a senior investigator, who didn’t want to be named, said that from the investigation so far, police have learnt that the plan was made by the accused after they felt Rekha was side-lining them. So far, the police have arrested Peter, Surya, Stephen, Ajay Mala, Arun and Purushottam. Among them, Peter, the prime suspect in the case was a close associate of Kadiresh.
“Kadiresh had a criminal past. In fact, it was a gang rivalry that caused his life in 2018. Peter was his right-hand man before Kadiresh decided to enter politics. Realising that the criminal past would not help win an election, he made his wife contest the election. Even during this time, Peter was a close ally of Kadiresh,” said the official.
Following this murder, even though Peter remained with the Kadiresh family, Rekha wanted to move past the criminal past of her husband. “She began to keep Peter and other associates away from her political activity, which irked Peter,” said the officer.
The side-lining meant that the financial aid Peter received from Kadiresh stopped over a period of time. “In fact, Peter was in the middle of constructing a new house, which he was doing with the money he was getting from Kadriesh’s family. Once the money stopped and Rekha began to distance Peter from her, he planned the murder,” the officer added.
Talking about the involvement of the sister-in-law, the officer said that Mala, the elder sister of Kadiresh, and her son, were in touch with the alleged killers and thus were arrested.
He added that while Peter was planning the murder, he realised that Mala too facing a similar problem, where Rekha was distancing her. “Even Mala had a criminal background. She was involved in sales of illegal alcohol and some drug-related cases. Rekha had kept them away from her political activities. So, Peter approached Mala for help,” he added.
Police who recreated the crime said that the suspect felt it was a well-planned conspiracy since many CCTV cameras in the locality were unable to capture the crime.
Around 10.30 am on June 24, while Rekha was walking home after taking part in a free meal distribution programme at her home in Chalavadipalya, a gang led by Peter waylaid her.
“They chased her down and stabbed her multiple times, particularly on the neck and the throat. There were more than 10 stabs on her body. She was taken to Victoria Hospital but wasn’t treated there in view of Covid-19. She was declared brought dead at KIMS Hospital around 11 am,” the officer explained.
Even though the attackers had turned the CCTV camera away, eyewitness accounts and a mobile phone video helped the police quickly identify the attackers. Soon after the murder, Peter and Surya fled towards the Tamil Nadu border in an autorickshaw .
“During the investigation, we have questioned more than 50 people, who we suspected were in constant touch with the suspect. One of them was of particular interest since we knew he was close to Peter. During his interrogation, we learnt that Peter was using a new mobile number since the murder,” said the officer.
The tracking of the new number revealed that these men were moving between locations and finally, police were able to track them down to Sunkadakatte, the officer added.
