Known persons may have killed engineer

Police Rule Out Murder-For-Gain Theory

Times News Network

Bangalore: The police suspect some known persons were involved in the murder of software engineer Adhip Lahiri, who was smothered between ITPB and his house on Airport Road on Thursday night.

The police had earlier said it could be murder for gain, but are now ruling it out. The crucial clue is that Adhip’s hands and feet were tied. If the attackers were interested only in money, they would not waste time finding a rope to bind his hands and feet which would take up precious time. The murderers had also placed the body beside the Mahadevapura tank and not thrown it into a ditch or into the tank, the police say.

They are also working on the theory that Adhip was smothered by some known persons at a place known to him, because there were no “major signs” of struggle, except a small injury on his head. Joint commissioner of police (crime) Gopal B Hosur said the victim was bound using cloth, ropes and adhesive tape. The cloth was part of an old dupatta used to clean his car, but the ropes and tapes were possibly carried by the attackers.

“The attackers, possibly three of them, could have stopped him, gained entry into the car and murdered him. The post-mortem report indicates death due to asphyxiation. It also states that there were signs of struggle as his shirt button was torn,’’ Hosur says.

The autopsy was conducted at the Bowring Hospital on Saturday morning. Details of the report were not available. The body was cremated at the Kalhalli crematorium in Cox Town.

Adhip’s wife Aparna, who works for TCS in the city, preferred not to speak to the media and refused to part with her husband’s photo, saying: “That will not be necessary.’’

Other family members, including her father Rear Admiral S S Mukherjee, were present at their residence behind Manipal Hospital.