Bengaluru, Aug 24 (IANS): Four persons who allegedly brutally murdered an elderly Bengaluru couple - whose tenants they were in the past and were still in contact with - have been arrested, police said on Tuesday.

The arrested were identified as Ramu, Narayanaswamy, Gangadhar, and Asif. The police have recovered 193 grams of stolen gold jewellery from them.

According to police, the accused murdered Shantharaju, 65, a former mechanic of BMTC, and Premalatha, 62, to rob their jewellery. The accused had taken the house of the old couple on rent 12 years ago, and often visited them.

The couple were stabbed and strangled in their house in Kumaraswamy Layout on August 20. The incident had taken place on the occasion of the Varamahalakshmi festival and had shocked the city.

Shantharaju was stabbed and then suffocated to death with a pillow, while Premalatha was dragged to another room and strangled to death with a cable wire.

According to police, the couple had no children and they resided at their own property in Kashinagar, while renting out two houses and living on the income. The couple had spoken to their neighbours till the afternoon, but were found murdered later.

Police had formed four special teams to nab the murderers. Preliminary investigations have suggested it to be a handiwork of known persons as police found three glasses on the table.

The police had seized the cable wire and obtained CCTV footage, enabling them to zero on the culprits.