Man held for friend’s murder a month after body stuffed in sack found in Bengaluru park

BENGALURU: More than a month after a decomposing body was found stuffed inside a sack in a BDA park in north Bengaluru, Gangammagudi police arrested a carpenter for allegedly murdering his friend during a drunken quarrel and later disposing of the body with the help of his accomplices.

The accused, Ravindar Kumar, 30, is a native of Uttar Pradesh, while the deceased, Vidhya Prasad alias Vidhyabharathi, 45, also belonged to the same state.

Prasad, a painter, arrived in Bengaluru two months ago in search of livelihood and stayed with Kumar in a rented house in north Bengaluru.

The case came to light on the morning of April 24, when a woman, out for a walk in Nisarga Layout, noticed a suspicious sack in the park. She alerted her husband, who rushed to the spot and found a human leg protruding from the sack. The couple informed police immediately.

Investigators initially faced a challenge in identifying the deceased. After extensive efforts, police verified footage from hundreds of CCTV cameras and found two persons riding a scooter carrying a sack on the footrest. They later traced the husband of the deceased's younger sister, who identified him as Vidhya Prasad. As the investigation progressed, police tracked down Kumar in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur on May 20. He confessed to the crime and revealed the involvement of two other accomplices, who remain absconding.

According to Kumar, on the night of April 20, the two got into a heated argument while under the influence of alcohol. During the quarrel, Kumar assaulted Prasad, repeatedly striking him on the stomach, chest, head and back.

The next morning, Kumar noticed that Prasad was feeling uneasy. He went to a nearby medical store and told the shopkeeper that his friend was heavily intoxicated and vomiting and asked for tablets, including painkillers. However, the shopkeeper refused and asked for a doctor's prescription. Later, in the early hours, Kumar and his accomplice spoke to Prasad before leaving for work.

In the afternoon, upon returning from work, Kumar and his associate found Prasad dead. Fearing arrest, they allegedly enlisted another accomplice and hatched a plan to dispose of the body.

That night, the trio allegedly stuffed the painter's body into a sack, transported it on a scooter and dumped it inside the compound of the BDA park at Nisarga Layout before fleeing. The same night, they left the city by train. Kumar was remanded to judicial custody on May 29, and efforts are on to nab the other two accused.