Accused killed sexagenarian in T Nagar after recce for a month

The police said Gorak Singh (34), who was working as a security guard at a house opposite to the victim’s house, planed the burglary after assuming that Shantha had valuables stored at her residence. He called three persons from his native to help him commit the theft. 

CCTV footage from a nearby marriage hall helped the police crack the case, as they got a clear visual of two persons, who had the physical features of someone hailing from the north east. The two men entered Shantha’s house at midnight on October 29. Another person visited the house around 2.30 am and the trio left the house around 4 am. The police checked the cell phone numbers that were active during that time frame in the area form that particular night. 

Using the phone records, they zeroed in on Gorak Singh. The police said Gorak Singh and his associates had acquired mobile SIM cards using fake identity cards from a shop at Triplicane. Gorak Singh’s associates managed to get employment at a nearby restaurant. Gorak Singh was earlier employed with a leading jewellery showroom on Habeebullah Road. After the police took Gorak Singh into custody, he confessed to carrying out the crime with the help of his associates from  Nepal. He said the trio entered the house only to burgle the victim and were forced to kill her when she tried to raise an alarm. The assailants hit her on the head with a plastic bucket, held her down and smothered her to death. The gang were only able to loot Rs 2 lakh from the house and Gorak Singh took Rs 45,000 as his share, which the police later recovered. The police said Shantha would rarely communicate with her relatives and neighbours. They added that she had exchanged old notes to the tune of Rs 4 lakh with the Reserve Bank of India about a year ago and used that money for her daily expenses. Most of her money was stored in banks. She had Rs 18 lakh in two bank accounts. 

The police claimed that it took them two days to rule out the possibility of someone trying to usurp her highly valuable properties in Bengaluru and Chennai. Shantha owns one ground of land and a house in Ulsoor, Bengaluru apart from the land and the house she owns at T Nagar. 

The police said they will freeze the properties to prevent anyone from transferring them. Police said the three associates of Gorak Singh managed to escape to Nepal after committing the crime. The police have filed a case against Gorak Singh and remanded him to judicial custody. They added that they will constitute a special team to go to Nepal and apprehend the other accused.