Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Mar 1: A chilling case of a missing family took a horrific turn when a mobile phone ringtone led the Tilaknagar police to uncover a cold-blooded triple murder. Akshay BJ (27), who had approached the police claiming his parents and sister were missing, was arrested after he was found in possession of their mobile phones.
The deceased have been identified as Bheemraj H, his wife Jayalakshmi, and their daughter Amrita, residents of Kottur in Vijayanagar district.
The 'missing' drama
On January 29, Akshay walked into the Tilaknagar police station, appearing distraught. He claimed his parents and sister had traveled to Bengaluru for a medical check-up at Jayadeva Hospital and had since vanished. To bolster his story, he showed police photos of his father and sister purportedly taken near the hospital.
However, as a 15-member police team scanned CCTV footage and checked multiple hospitals, they found no trace of the family. Suspicion grew when Bheemraj’s mobile numbers remained switched off.
The ringtone that changed everything
On the morning of January 30, while Akshay was at the station, a constable dialed the sister’s number. To the shock of everyone present, a ringtone emanated from Akshay’s own trouser pocket. A subsequent search revealed three SIM cards belonging to the "missing" family members.
Akshay had switched on the phone during a tea break, hoping to mislead the police into thinking his sister was still alive and moving within the city. However, his failure to silence the device proved to be his undoing.
A gruesome confession
Under intense interrogation, Akshay confessed to a crime that horrified the veteran officers. He revealed that he had murdered his family on January 26 at their home in Kottur.
"I killed my mother in the afternoon, my sister in the evening, and my father at night using an axe blade. I hid the bodies in the bedroom, covered them with bedsheets, and then took a bus to Bengaluru," Akshay told the police.
In a calculated move to create an alibi, he left his own phone at home and carried his family's devices to Bengaluru. He visited Jayadeva Hospital himself, took photos, and sent them to his phone to make it appear as though his family had sent them. He then returned to Kottur, where he spent two days using a drilling machine to dig a 10-foot-deep pit inside the house to bury the bodies, keeping the TV volume high to drown out the noise.
Motive and arrests
While Akshay claimed he committed the murders because his parents supported his sister's wish to marry someone from a different caste, the police suspect a financial motive. Bheemraj had recently sold a property for Rs 1.2 crore, and Akshay had allegedly misappropriated a portion of the funds without his father’s knowledge.
The police have also arrested Akshay’s uncle, Vasanth, who allegedly advised him to file the false missing-person complaint to derail the investigation.
Joint commissioner of police (East) Ramesh Banoth and DCP (South East) Mohammad Sujeetha confirmed that Akshay is in 10-day police custody. The bodies were recovered from the Kottur residence following his confession.