They came with rent, then shot him: 1 held in Bengaluru advocate murder case

Amit Kumar Dubey (left), accused of murdering advocate B Manjunath (right) on October 18, is from Bihar and was apprehended on November 12. (Photos: Special Arrangement)

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The Bengaluru police have arrested one of the two accused in the murder of a 43-year-old advocate in Pattandur Agrahara, following a 20-day manhunt across several states. The second accused is still absconding, the police said on Thursday.

The arrested accused, Amit Kumar Dubey, 25, is from Bihar and was apprehended on November 12. The second accused, Pawan Kumar Dubey, is still on the run.

Amit and Pawan are accused of murdering advocate B Manjunath over outstanding rent on October 18.

Argument over pending rent

According to the preliminary investigation, the two accused, who worked as food delivery agents in Bengaluru, had rented a premises in Pattandur Agrahara from Manjunath.

“The accused had not paid rent for three months, amounting to Rs 15,000. Following a dispute over the outstanding amount, Manjunath had seized their two-wheeler. This led the two men to plan his murder. They procured a country-made firearm and shot him at his residence on October 18,” the police said.

According to the police, the accused allegedly returned to Manjunath’s residence at night, claiming to have brought the pending rent. One of them allegedly shot him at close range while he was counting the money, following which both fled.

From Telangana to Bihar

The initial investigation had revealed that after the murder, one accused allegedly travelled to Chennai by train, while the other fled to Hyderabad on his motorcycle. The police initially deployed special teams across Delhi, Kolkata, Bihar, Chennai and Hyderabad, with the Central Crime Branch providing technical assistance.

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The operation proved challenging as the accused received assistance from family members, who provided them shelter and repeatedly shifted them between locations to evade arrest, the police said.

While Amit was arrested in Bihar, the police are continuing efforts to trace Pawan and recover the country-made firearm allegedly used in the murder. The police are also investigating how the accused procured the firearm and ascertaining whether anyone else was involved. The case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act.