'3-month tour': Bengaluru killer forced boy to send messages to conceal parents' murder

The boy told them that Indushekhar did not allow him to speak directly to relatives. Instead, he handed him the phones and made him record voice messages.

BENGALURU: For five days after his parents went missing, the 10-year-old son of the murdered couple Shankar and Nalini was made to tell relatives and family friends that they were away on a pilgrimage and later on a three-month North India tour.The messages were not his own.Police said the boy told them that alleged killer Indushekhar dictated what he should say and made him record voice messages using mobile phones belonging to his parents and others.According to the boy's statement, his father went missing on a Saturday morning, and his mother was nowhere to be found by afternoon. Indushekhar came to pick him up that evening, saying they would go on a pilgrimage.Police said the child trusted Indushekhar because he was a familiar person and had ties with the family. The boy told them that Indushekhar did not allow him to speak directly to relatives.Instead, he handed him the phones and made him record voice messages. Initially, he was instructed to say his parents were at a temple and had handed their phones to people there."He told me to say they were going on a North India tour for three more months and no one should bother them," police quoted the boy as having said.

The child also recalled a foul smell inside Indushekhar's car during the period. The boy noticed two or three heavy gunny bags in the vehicle and asked the accused about the stench. Indushekhar allegedly dismissed his questions, saying there were waste materials in the back.

When he tried to look inside the bags, Indushekhar allegedly scolded him and warned him against going near them. Indushekhar later drove towards Nandi Hills and threw the sacks away.