Express
Bangalore, Mar 12: Byappanahalli police arrested the alleged murderer of a home-alone woman within six hours of the crime on Monday.
The victim Rajani Rajabala (60) was married to Amrit Packia Dhas, a senior scientist at DRDO.
The accused Vijayan(33) is the son of Ramanirutam, a retired technical officer at Electronics and Radar Development Establishment. Police said Vijayan, employed as a helper at an NGO, had incurred debts and was finding it difficult to provide for his family. He planned to sell Rajabala’s ornaments to raise some money.
Vijayan was acquainted with the Dhas family as he stayed at the DRDO residential complex in the quarters his father was allotted. An SSLC dropout, Vijayan later married a Manipuri woman against his parents’ wishes and was living separately with his wife and two children in a rented house at Agara near Horamavu, from where he was nabbed.
Murder for Gain
Police said in the last 10 days, Vijayan visited Rajabala twice and asked for `2 lakh but she refused to give him the money. He then demanded `60,000 a week ago to pay his credit card dues. As Rajabala refused to budge, he hatched a plan to kill her and steal her jewellery.
Vijayan planned the murder well in advance and purchased a knife before heading to Rajabala’s house Monday on the pretext of taking her help for a documentary. He told her that he was directing a documentary and one of the scenes was that of a woman ending her life over differences with her husband.
Police said Vijayan convinced Rajabala to write a death note in this regard and she wrote it in Tamil. He then blackmailed her using that note, threatening to kill her if she did not give him the money. He told her no one would suspect his role behind her death as she wrote the death note, police explained. However, Rajabala did not heed his threats and Vijayan slit her throat. Neighbours who heard Rajabala scream rang the door-bell. In his hurry to escape, Vijayan dropped the suicide note and stole her two gold chains, before jumping from the balcony on the third floor, police said.
Though he was injured, Vijayan managed to walk till the main road and took an auto and reached home. He told his wife he met with an accident and after changing his clothes, went to a nearby clinic. He gave the doctor the same explanation.
However, in his haste to flee, Vijayan left his two-wheeler at the DRDO residential complex as he lost its keys at the spot. Based on the vehicle’s details, the police traced Vijayan. He was taken to a hospital as he sustained multiple injuries, including damage to his spinal cord, while jumping off from the third floor of the building.
Tag Archives: Rajani Rajabala
Wife of DRDO scientist murdered in quarters
Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Mar 11, 2014, 02.00 AM IST
Rajabala was alone at home in heavily-guarded premises
The wife of a scientist with the Defence Research and Organisation Development (DRDO) was found murdered in her residence in the heavily-guarded DRDO quarters in Byappanahalli on Monday. Police say Rajani Rajabala, 49, the wife of A Packia Dhas, scientist ‘D’ with the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of DRDO, was killed between 11 am and 11.30 am on Monday.
The incident came to light when neighbours found the victim lying in a pool of blood. Her throat has been slit and she had also suffered stab injuries to the neck, police said.
Rajabala was staying on the third floor of an apartment in ‘F’ wing in Block No. 22 of the DRDO quarters. She was alone at home. Her husband had gone for work and daughter, a first year engineering student, had left for college. The family is from Kanyakumari, but have been staying in the city for the last six years. Her son studies engineering in Chennai.
Police found no evidence of forced entry and suspect the killer fled by jumping from one of the floors to the ground. Salva Kumari, a resident of the ground floor of the same building, told police that at around the time of the crime, she heard the sound of something falling from a top floor and had rushed out. She found an unidentified man sitting on the ground near the building. The man later got up and walked away.
Along with Karthika Devi, another neighbour, Kumari climbed to the top to find out what had fallen. The door to Rajabala’s apartment was open and they entered to find their neighbour lying in a pool of blood. Byappanahalli police, who are investigating the crime, say the killer may have taken something from the house.
“Dhas and his daughter are still in shock and did not speak to us,” said K V Sharat Chandra, joint commissioner of police (East, law and order). “Once we speak to them and find out what’s missing, we will know if it was murder for gain or for personal rivalry. There is huge security for the quarters, but security staffs don’t do much checking in the morning. It is only after 8 pm when security is tight. There were no CCTV cameras installed.”