'TV at full blast, property spat, 20-year feud': New details in B'luru family massacre

In a series of grisly murders committed over a 15-day period in late Oct, a 52-year-old cab driver allegedly killed his wife and six members of her extended family and dumped their bodies at four locations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. His wife, mother-in-law and seven-year-old nephew were among the victims, police said. Police identified the accused as S Indushekhar alias Arjun Indushekhar, who lived in Rajajinagar's V Block. When he was arrested near Ulsoorgate on Wednesday, a minor boy — said to be his eighth target — was found in his car. “Indushekhar claimed he had planned to kill the boy as well,” a police officer said, adding the accused is being interrogated in police custody. His daughter, 17, is suspected to have helped him in committing multiple murders. Police alleged the accused invited the victims to his second-floor house between Oct 16 and 31 for lunch or dinner, and crushed them to death with a grindstone. During questioning, Indushekhar allegedly told investigators he had been ‘in conflict with’ his wife for nearly 20 years and blamed the relatives for supporting her during their disputes.

The victims were identified as his wife Sunita (40); mother-in-law Rupavathi (65); brother-in-law Shivakumar (46); his wife Divya (30); brother-in-law Shankar (44); his wife Nalini (29); and their son Puneeth (7). Police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh called the incident “serious” and added that the motive appears to be personal. The case came to light after relatives of the missing persons failed to establish contact with them and sought help from police to find their whereabouts. Thunganamma approached Srirampura police on Nov 3 to report that her daughter Nalini, Shankar and several relatives were missing, and their phones remained switched off on Oct 31 and Nov 1. Kalavathi similarly separately reported to police about her daughter Divya, son-in-law Shivakumar and grandson Puneeth.