Wife, mother-in-law, 7-year-old nephew among 7 allegedly killed by Bengaluru cab driver

A 52-year-old man in Bengaluru has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife and six members of her family, including a child, and disposing of the bodies in different parts of Karnataka over a period of 15 to 20 days, police said on Friday.

S Indushekar, a cab driver, is suspected of killing Sunitha, his wife of around two decades, as part of a series of killings that investigators believe began around October 16 over a dispute that appears to be the result of her frequent visits to her mother’s home in the same city, police said.

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Dispute over wife's visit to her mother's home

Indushekar is also accused of murdering Sunitha’s mother, Roopavathi; her brothers, Shivakumar and Shankar; their wives, Divya and Nalini; and Shivakumar’s seven-year-old son.

Police are probing the role of his 17-year-old daughter in the crimes, which were allegedly committed in Indushekar’s rented one-room house on the terrace of a building near Bhashyam Circle in Rajajinagar.

Puneeth’s body was recovered near Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapur district on Thursday (November 5), police said. Searches are under way for the others.

“He is giving a version that he called them one by one, murdered them, and disposed of the bodies...we are verifying this...Six bodies have yet to be found as per the information provided by the accused,” Bengaluru police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said.

Indushekar published Taana Varadari, a Kannada-English monthly tabloid, and ran a local YouTube news channel. The tabloid’s August 2026 edition identifies him as its editor and publisher.

“It is a very unfortunate incident...The investigation is on. The accused claims that he was humiliated by his wife’s side. It is definitely a twisted mind that has done the job. He has given the whereabouts of the bodies across the state,” Karnataka home minister Priyank Kharge told reporters.

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Investigation is ongoing

Babasab Nemagoud, deputy commissioner of police (North), said a special team comprising three assistant commissioners of police had been formed. Around 50 personnel are involved in the investigation and the search for the bodies.

Police suspect Indushekar used a grinding stone to attack the victims and a car to move the bodies. Both have been seized.

A missing-person complaint filed on Thursday by Nalini’s mother alerted police, who zeroed in on Indushekar. The complaint was lodged at Srirampura police station.

According to preliminary accounts, after killing Sunitha, Indushekar allegedly wrapped her body in a cloth and took it to the Nandi Hills area. He is believed to have told neighbours she had gone on a trip with friends.

Later, he allegedly invited her brothers, Shivakumar and Shankar, to his house. Police suspect the two men were killed soon after they arrived. Indushekar allegedly killed the others after that.

Investigators are examining the sequence of events and how the bodies were moved to different locations. They also suspect chemicals were used to clean bloodstains inside the house.

The room where the killings allegedly took place sits above a row of shops. A narrow staircase leads up to it, and it has an iron-barred window.

Preliminary investigations suggest that frequent disagreements over Sunitha’s visits to her parental home, and her closeness to her mother and brothers, had strained the marriage.

“Relatives had attempted to reconcile the couple, but the disputes continued. Indushekar resented the involvement of his wife’s family in their marital disagreements,” an investigator, who did not want to be named, said.

Police are questioning the couple’s daughter. “We do not want to make any statements about her role in the case. She is currently being questioned. All I can say is that she is crucial to the case,” the investigator said.