Bengaluru cabbie held for killing 7 family members, dumping bodies near Nandi Hills

The police suspect that frequent arguments between Indushekar alias Shekhar and Sunitha over her association with her family may have led to the murders. (Photos: Special arrangement)

Seven members of a family, including a woman, her mother, two brothers, their wives and a seven-year-old boy, were allegedly killed by the woman’s husband, who is suspected of dumping their bodies at multiple locations near the foothills of Nandi Hills in Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur district, the police said.

The accused, Indushekar alias Shekhar, 52, a cab driver from Bengaluru’s Rajajinagar, has been arrested. The police have so far recovered the body of seven-year-old Puneeth and launched a search operation to trace the remaining six bodies.

The police identified the victims as Shekhar’s wife Sunitha, her mother Roopavati, her brothers Shivakumar and Shankar, their wives Divya and Nalini, and Shivakumar’s son Puneeth. Preliminary investigations suggest that Shekhar allegedly called Sunitha’s family members to his house individually over two days and killed them using a grinding stone.

Couple frequently argued: Police

The case came to light after Nalini’s mother approached the Sriramapura police in Bengaluru and lodged a missing-person complaint, stating that her daughter was untraceable. During the investigation, the police grew suspicious of Shekhar and questioned him, following which his alleged involvement in the murders came to light.

According to preliminary investigations, Shekhar married Sunitha around 20 years ago. The couple lived in a small one-room kitchen house on the terrace of a building near Bhashyam Circle in Rajajinagar.

The police suspect that frequent arguments between the couple over Sunitha’s continued association with her parental family may have led to the murders. Sources say family members had reportedly made several attempts to resolve the differences.

Shekhar and Sunitha lived in a small one-room-kitchen house on the terrace of a building near Bhashyam Circle in Rajajinagar. (Photo: Special arrangement)

Search on for bodies, special team formed

After questioning the accused, the police took him to the foothills of Nandi Hills and conducted searches. Following several hours of searching, Puneeth’s body was recovered on Thursday.

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According to sources, Shekhar allegedly dumped the bodies at multiple locations around the foothills of Nandi Hills, including an area near Chamrajpet Hills. The locations are said to be on steep slopes, where bodies pushed down could fall deep into the forest, making them difficult to locate.

While police personnel regularly patrol the foothill areas as part of their beat duties, the bodies are suspected to have been pushed further into the forest, which is difficult for the police to access. Forest personnel are present in the area, and police are now searching multiple locations for the bodies

The police are also investigating the circumstances in which the bodies were transported and dumped near Nandi Hills.

Babasab Nemagoud, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), confirmed the incident and said, “A murder FIR has been registered and the investigation is underway.” A special team comprising three assistant commissioners of police has been formed to investigate the case and recover the remaining bodies.