One arrested, the other is on the lam.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
Bengaluru police arrested on Wednesday a 35-year-old electrician named Premchand Jain in connection with the murder of an elderly couple, reported The Times of India.
The police are searching for a 36-year-old cloth seller Chandrashekhar who killed Parvathraj, 61 and his wife Chandrakala, 55 with the help of Jain on Friday evening. According to the police, Chandrashekhar is on the run.
Police said that the duo carried out the murder to get money for the last rituals of Chandrashekhar’s brother-in-law who committed suicide in Punjab.
Additional commissioner of police (East) P Harisekaran was quoted by Times of India as saying, “We have got clear leads about Chandrasekhar’s whereabouts and our team is on the job to nab him.”
Premchand Jain was the only support of the couple who lived in Coles Road as their son Kiran Kumar is working in the US. The couple had known Jain for 15 years and they treated him like their ‘second son.’ He also used to take small loans from the couple.
Jain and Chandrashekhar decided to kill Parvathraj and Chandrakala after they demanded a gold chain as surety when they asked them for a loan of $735 to perform the last rituals of Chandrashekhar’s brother-in-law.
The duo was in Hyderabad when Chandrashekhar’s wife who works in Bengaluru as a bartender called him and said that her brother committed suicide in Punjab. She told him to go to Punjab and perform the last rituals.
As Jain and Chandrashekhar used to spend all their earnings for drinking, they didn’t have enough money with them to go to Punjab.
It was Jain’s idea to ask Parvathraj and Chandrakala for money. But their plans didn’t work out as the couple demanded surety. This provoked them and they decided to kill the couple and steal their money.
They made a plan to carry out the murder on Thursday and bought two knives on the same day. But they had to wait till Friday as the couple had frequent visitors as the marriage date of their son was nearing.
On Friday evening, Jain and Chandrashekhar allegedly killed Parvathraj and Chandrakala at their home and took away their money and jewelry. Both of them were stabbed many times in the abdomen. They changed their dress after disposing of their bloodied clothes and left the house at around 8 pm.
The police initially thought that Jain was innocent as Chandrakala had called him five times on the same day. But, detailed introspection finally revealed the truth.