Bengaluru: Businessman murders wife, then cooks up robbery story

BENGALURU: Police have arrested a businessman for allegedly murdering his wife and trying to cover up the crime as a violent robbery.
Kaggalipura police on Wednesday said they had arrested Dinesh Kumar, a resident of Annapoorneshwari Layout off Kanakapura Road and the owner of two water tankers, on Monday and charged him with the murder of his wife Gayathri.
Police said Dinesh had suffered losses in business and he had pledged his wife’s jewellery to pay monthly instalments for vehicle loans.
Dinesh recently asked Gayathri for more jewellery, a police officer said. “He asked Gayathri for more gold to pay instalments due in July but she refused,” he said. “Miffed with his wife, he decided to kill her.”
Dinesh stabbed his wife repeatedly after their sons went to school on July 3, the officer said, adding that the body had seven knife wounds.
“He later took his wife’s jewellery and went to his office in Kaggalipura,” he said. “From there he went to Bidadi and later to Tumakuru with his friends to create the impression that he had been travelling and was not at home when his wife was killed.”
The couple’s children found their mother dead when they returned from school at 3pm on the day of the murder. Dinesh, who rushed back home after police informed him about what had happened, told police that his wife’s jewellery was missing. He said he suspected that she may have been the victim of a violent robbery.
“We registered a case of dacoity based on Dinesh’s complaint,” the officer said. “But evidence from the crime scene indicated that it was not a robbery. The victim appeared to have known her assailant.”
Neighbors told police that Gayathri was very cautious and did not open the door to strangers.
“We detained Dinesh for questioning on Sunday and he confessed to the crime,” the officer said. “We arrested him the next day.”