Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Jan 25: City police commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy on Saturday lauded the significant role played by lady constable Lalita of Urwa police station in tracing and arresting an accused of the Dandupalya gang who had been absconding for 27 years in connection with a double murder case reported under the limits of Urwa police station.
Addressing reporters at the commissioner’s office while briefing about the arrest, he said the accused had changed his name and address and was living in Andhra Pradesh with a different family and children.
As part of a special drive to trace long-pending absconding accused in the district, the Urwa police took up this case as a challenge. Lady constable Lalita, in particular, worked tirelessly for three to four months, focusing on the case, he said.
During her visits to various police stations, courts and offices, she identified a court record indicating that the accused had changed his name. Subsequently, after contacting people from his native place and following up on the leads, the Urwa police team proceeded along with her and successfully arrested the accused, the commissioner added.
Background
The case dates back to October 12, when Sister Olive, headmistress of St Gerosa School, Kankanady, visited her brother’s house near Urva Marigudi Cross around 4 pm. After receiving no response at the front door, she entered the house through the kitchen and found the occupants missing. On searching the premises, the body of Louis D’Mello (80) was found lying in a pool of blood in the ground-floor bathroom, while the body of Ranjith Vegas (19) was found in the bathroom on the upper floor. Gold ornaments worn by the victims were missing, leading to suspicion of murder for gain.
Based on her complaint, the then PSI Chengappa registered a case under sections 302, 394 read with 34 of the IPC at Urva police station.
During the investigation of a separate murder case registered at Vijayanagar police station in Bengaluru in 1999, four accused — Doddahanuma alias Hanuma, Venkatesh alias Chandra, Munikrishna alias Krishna and Nallathimma alias Thimma — were arrested on February 1. During interrogation, they confessed to their involvement, along with four others, in the Urva double murder and robbery. A total of 91 grams of gold ornaments linked to the Urva case were recovered from them.
Investigations revealed that accused Chikka Hanuma had assisted Dandupalya Krishna alias Nagaraj in slitting the throat of Louis D’Mello, and also helped Doddahanuma chase and murder Ranjith Vegas on the upper floor of the house.
The Urva police later secured the custody of five accused through body warrant orders and seized the weapons used in the crime. A chargesheet was filed in July 2002 against eight accused under sections 396 and 400 of the IPC. Three of the accused, including Chikka Hanuma, were shown as absconding.
Trial proceedings against the available accused were completed in the special court at Parappana Agrahara central prison complex, Bengaluru, in sessions case number 728/2010. Initially, five accused were convicted and two were acquitted. However, the high court ordered a retrial in 2017, following which all five convicted accused were acquitted in December 2019.
Accused Chikka Hanuma continued to evade trial, leading the court to issue an LPC warrant in 2010. Acting on the warrant, the Urva police arrested him on January 20 from a residence in Vijayanagar Colony, BK Palli, Madanapalle, Annamayya district of Andhra Pradesh.
Police records show that Chikka Hanuma is involved in 13 serious criminal cases across Karnataka, including multiple murder and robbery cases registered in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hubballi, Shivamogga, Tumakuru and Mangaluru. In eight of these cases, other accused have been sentenced to death by trial courts.
He is presently facing trial before the Mangaluru court in CC number 3429/2005.