Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Jun 13: The City police have cracked the Jokatte murder case within a short span of time and arrested two accused allegedly involved in the brutal murder of a man whose body was found with his throat slit near Jokatte Arikere in Tokur.
The body of an unidentified male aged about 35 to 40 years was found in a drainage channel belonging to Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) at Jokatte Arikere in 62nd Tokur village under the Panambur police station limits on at around 8 am on June 10. The deceased had been murdered and his throat slit.
Based on a complaint lodged by Kishore, Panambur police registered a case under crime no. 82/2026 under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and launched an investigation.
Acting on credible information gathered during the investigation, police traced and arrested the main accused, Prashant Kumar (36), son of Narsh Bhandari, a native of Shivaji Nagar, Darbhanga district in Bihar. He was currently residing near Vijay Vitthal Bhajana Mandir at Jokatte, Tokur village, Mangaluru. He was tracked down at Madgaon railway station in Goa and arrested at around 1.30 am on June 13 before being brought to the police station.
The second accused, Pinku Mahto (33), a native of Jat Kauli, Tikaha village in Dharampur, Vaishali district of Bihar, and currently residing near Vijay Vitthal Bhajana Mandir, Jokatte, was arrested at around 11.30 am near the same locality in Jokatte.
Both accused are natives of Bihar and were residing with their families in a rented house at Jokatte. Prashant Kumar was employed as a welder at MRPL, while Pinku Mahto worked in bar binding.
During the investigation, police identified the deceased as Chandan Chauhan (39), son of Kanniya Chauhan, a resident of Chak Garbanaili in Purnia district of Bihar.
Police investigations revealed that Prashant Kumar's wife had left home in April along with another young man. It is alleged that Chandan Chauhan had helped her leave. Since Prashant Kumar was confined to his house due to an accident, Chandan had allegedly spread rumours that his wife had eloped with their young child because of his condition.
Angered by this, Prashant Kumar allegedly conspired with his friend Pinku Mahto and, at around 6 pm on June 9, assaulted Chandan with a wooden club on the head and face before slitting his throat with a knife. The accused then allegedly disposed of the body in the drain beside Prashant Kumar's rented house at Jokatte.
The case was solved under the guidance of Mangaluru North Sub-Division Assistant commissioner of police Sreekanth K. Panambur police inspector Saleem Abbas led the investigation.
The detection team included Panambur police sub-inspectors Sreekala K T and Jnanashekar, along with police personnel Imtiyaz, Surendra, Cherian, Deepak, Fakkiresh, Rakesh and Manjunath.