Techie Adhip Lahiri’s murder cracked; 2 held

Times News Network
Picture: Md Asad

Culprits Wanted To Lead Lavish Life; Police Discount Professional Rivalry

Bangalore:
Motive: Murder for gain
Victim: Adhip Lahiri, a software professional
Accused: J Raju and Venkatesh, former employees of IT companies
Clue: Killers used Lahiri’s credit card to buy a cellphone and SIM card

The Adhip Lahiri murder case has been solved and two former employees of ITPB have been arrested. Adhip Lahiri was found murdered on December 22. He was killed the previous night in his car and the killers had dumped the body near a water tank in Garudacharpalya.

The accused are J Raju, who worked as a transport supervisor and Venkatesh, a security guard. Both of them worked at ITPB premises, Whitefield, in the past. The police have discounted the theory of professional jealousy as alleged by Lahiri’s family. Police commissioner Achutha Rao on Saturday said Lahiri’s killers were working for two different IT companies. Thirty-two-year-old Lahiri, worked for i-2G software and as an outsourced project person for Infeneon at ITPB.

The killers were caught based on the transactions they had made on a credit card belonging to Lahiri. They had snatched credit and debit cards along with a laptop and a cellphone from Lahiri before killing him. The killers used the credit card to buy a cellphone and SIM card. This helped the police to trap them.

The police, who had kept a close watch on the transactions made on Lahiri’s cards, learnt about this purchase. Acting swiftly, they monitored the calls made and received on the cellphone. The police team, led by joint commissioner Gopal B Hosur, laid the trap. Achuta Rao said: “After work on December 21, Lahiri, a native of Kolkata, left ITPB at around 9 pm in his car. The killers followed him in another car from the ITPB gate. Lahiri was not their specific target and he was picked up randomly. Initially, they wanted to rob him and they had no intention of killing him. The duo wanted to lead a luxurious life by targeting techies.”

“After following him up to some distance, the killers created a scene of accident near Sri Sathya Sai general hospital on Varthur road and forced Lahiri to stop his car and get down in an isolated place. They sprayed pepper powder on Lahiri’s face and shoved him on the back seat. They overpowered him, tied his hands and legs and gaged him using a scotch tape. The killers left their car near the hospital and drove Lahiri’s car after robbing credit cards, cellphone and other valuables. They forced Lahiri to reveal the PIN numbers of the cards.”

“When the car reached Whitefield railway level-crossing, Lahiri tried to shout for help. The killers smothered him to death and took his body to Garudacharpalya through narrow lanes, avoiding police picket points on the main road. The duo threw Lahiri’s body near a water tank and sped away.”

“Later, they planned to sell the car outside Bangalore and drove towards Tumkur. However, on seeing heavy police presence on the roads, they abandoned the car near Yeshwantpur and took an autorickshaw to reach Varthur road near their car which they had borrowed from a friend. The killers used the stolen debit cards to withdraw cash from ATM counters and make some purchases in Bangalore and Kolar.”

In the early hours of December 22, Lahiri’s wife Aparna went to Airport road police station and lodged a complaint that her husband had not come home. Later, an unidentified body was found at a water tank near Garudacharpalya and Aparna identified the body as Lahiri’s. Though Aparna had tried to block the card transactions, the cards remained active for some reason and the killers made purchases worth Rs 1 lakh.

According to the police, Venkatesh, who worked as a guard at an IT firm, was removed from his job recently due to misbehaviour. The police have recovered the laptop robbed from Lahiri and also the items which they had purchased using credit cards.