Rival gang member brutally murdered

Seeking revenge for rival gang leader's bid on his life, hardened criminal orchestrates murder of rival's aide, burns body and dumps it in a lake

Notorious criminal Muthuraj alias Muthu, who has five murder cases and 24 chain snatching cases pending against him, was arrested by the Jayanagar police for brutally murdering his rival's associate shortly after being released from jail.

Mutha was serving a four-year sentence for a murder case and was released eight months ago, following which archrival Palani and his associates made an attempt on his life. Seeking revenge, Muthu invited Palani's associate Venkataramana to a drinking party on the pretext of brokering peace, which the latter unsuspectingly accepted.

Deadly mistake
As per the plan, he along with some associates picked up Venkataramana from JP Nagar and took him on a bar hopping spree across the city, following which the victim was in a highly inebriated condition. He was then taken in an autorickshaw to an isolated spot, bludgeoned to death and his body partially burnt to make it difficult for the cops to identify. The body was then dumped in Arkavathi lake.

The plot came to light when the police picked up Muthu on suspicion and interrogated him."He not only confessed to killing Venkataramana, but also admitted to having committed two robberies, which netted him Rs 8.3 lakh in Subramanyapura and Hebbagodi police station limits," said Jayanagar Police Inspector C Gopal.
While the cops claimed to have cracked an unsolved murder case, police sources said that Muthu himself stage-managed the entire drama to evade attacks from rival gangs.

A source said, "Muthu might have assumed that the Palani gang would avenge the murder of Venkataramana and like any other criminal, he feels that he will be safer in prison." The police added that he is a habitual offender, and his activities will not stop with him in jail. "Muthu may attempt to continue his business
from jail with the help of mobile phones and visitors," said an unnamed police officer, who was part of the operation.