Bengaluru Police Arrest Man for Chopping Woman into Pieces

Suspect Allegedly Wanted to Steal Victim's Gold Jewelry

The police arrested a man on Monday for the murder of a 70-year-old woman whose body was found chopped up in a drum in Bengaluru's K R Puram area.

The police stated that Deenesh, aged 40, allegedly murdered the elderly woman to steal her jewelry. Following his arrest, Deenesh was brought before a court by the police.

On Sunday, the police found the body of Susheelamma, who lived in Nisarga Layout in K R Puram. Her body had been dismembered and placed inside a drum in the same area.

The Bengaluru police stated that Deenesh, a resident of the same area, had known Susheelamma for some time, and they both worked as local BJP workers. The police added that they frequently visited each other's houses.

An officer mentioned, "Susheelamma had recently mentioned to others that she had come into a good sum of money, including her neighbors, and Deenesh was aware of this. Susheelamma had also started wearing some new jewelry, which Deenesh assumed might be gold purchased with that money."

The police reported that on Saturday around 11:30 am, Deenesh called Susheelamma to his house under the pretext of taking her to a temple. Upon her arrival, Deenesh allegedly killed Susheelamma and took her jewelry to sell. At the jewelry shop, he discovered that most of the items were "rolled gold," with only one being a genuine gold ornament, which he sold for Rs 11,500. He then asked a pawnbroker to transfer the money to a digital wallet account.

Upon returning to his house by 12:30 pm, Deenesh allegedly proceeded to dismember Susheelamma's body into several pieces. A police officer stated that Deenesh packed her legs and hands in plastic and disposed of them by throwing them into Avalahalli Lake. He then placed the remaining parts of her body into a blue drum along with some chemicals, as per the officer's account.

The officer stated, "Deenesh had initially planned to dispose of the body, but due to timing constraints, he kept it in an isolated area within an under-construction building, intending to dispose of it on Sunday. However, before he could do so, a local resident discovered the body on Sunday evening and alerted the police. Interestingly, Deenesh was present at the scene when the police arrived to inspect the body. He even provided a witness statement, falsely claiming to have seen the suspect at the location."

Nevertheless, the police uncovered CCTV footage showing Deenesh carrying the blue drum, which he had left near his house, and it was found to be in close proximity to Susheelamma's residence.

Initial investigations revealed that Deenesh had previously worked at a port in Chennai but lost his job due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. His wife, who was the primary breadwinner and worked near Manyata Tech Park, supported the family financially. According to the police, Deenesh was driven by a need for money, which led to the tragic events.

On Saturday, Deenesh's wife and child had gone to their relative's place to attend a Sathyanarayana pooja, leaving Deenesh behind. He joined them at the relative's place around 5:30 pm and had dinner there. None of them were aware of the murder, as stated by a police officer.

The K R Puram police have registered a case and are currently investigating the matter.