Murder case cracked after eight years, woman held arrested for killing brother with help of partner

The Jigani police on Friday cracked an eight-year-old murder case and arrested a 31-year-old woman, who, along with her live-in partner, allegedly murdered her younger brother brutally for objecting to their relationship and chopped the body parts and disposed it in a travel bag in different parts on the outskirts of the city in July 2015.

The accused had soon vacated the rented house and fled to different cities before settling down in Nashik. The police had closed the case as undetected and reopened it recently after they got a hunch about the couple’s activities.

Based on a tip-off, a team of police traced the couple and arrested them. The accused have been identified as Bhagyashri Siddappa Pujari, 31, a resident of Sindagi taluk in Vijayapura who had relocated to Nashik and worked in a pharma company, and her friend Suputra Shankarappa Talawar, 32, who later married Bhagyashri.

According to the police, Bhagyashri and her brother Ningaraju Siddappa Pujari had come to Bengaluru, was working in a factory in Jigani and stayed in a rented house in Vaderamanchanahalli. Bhagyashri had an affair with Suputra, who was already married. Ningaraju objected to it. Bhagyashri and Suputra hatched the plan and killed Ningaraju.

The murder came to light when the Jigani police found the bag containing human body parts at a KIADB vacant site in Jigani. The police found a doctor’s prescription, which led to the house of the accused. Based on information from neighbours, the police went to the factory where the accused were working and obtained their contact details. They managed to contact the family members of the deceased and got the body identified.

Failing to locate the accused, the police filed a closure report before the court but kept a tab on the accused. While following old cases, the police stumbled upon an information about Suputra working in a factory in Nashik and a team rushed there. But Suputra by then had changed jobs. The police again followed the trail and tracked down Bhagyashri to a pharma company where she was working and later arrested Suputra.

The duo confessed to the crime and were charged with the murder and taken into custody.