In 2013, the Malayalam movie Drishyam, with its intricate plot of a person outwitting the police and protecting up a homicide, captivated audiences throughout India. However for a person in Karnataka, the movie served as a blueprint for homicide—a criminal offense that went unnoticed till a routine lacking particular person case in 2024 unravelled his internet of deception.
On August 12, 2024, a person named Balaraju walked into the Magadi police station with a nervous expression. His good friend Lalitha, a beautician from Madanayakanahalli on the outskirts of Bengaluru, had vanished with no hint.
Recognized to many as Divya, the 30-year-old had been dwelling individually from her husband, Umesh, for 2 years, elevating their five-year-old son alone whereas pursuing divorce proceedings.
The police later learnt that Lalitha’s marriage to Umesh, a journey company worker, had crumbled underneath the load of his alcohol dependancy. Her lively Instagram presence was a supply of fixed suspicion for Umesh, who was satisfied she was having an affair. The couple’s separation had been bitter.
Lalitha, a beautician from Madanayakanahalli on the outskirts of Bengaluru, had vanished with no hint. (Supply: Specific Photograph)
That August night, Umesh had known as Lalitha to debate the divorce, Balaraju instructed the police. Umesh advised they meet close to the Basavanna temple near Magadi to debate issues “amicably”, he allegedly stated. Lalitha agreed, however sensing one thing amiss, she shared her reside location on WhatsApp with Balaraju’s spouse, Uma, earlier than she left, borrowing a two-wheeler from him.
A digital trial that led to a physique
The reside location that Lalitha shared instructed a chilling story. Within the FIR, Balaraju stated that at 6.17 pm, Lalitha’s location sign ended abruptly close to Honnapura Lake. When Uma tried calling Lalitha and Umesh, neither answered. At 8.12 pm, Balaraju instructed the police, Umesh returned the borrowed two-wheeler, claiming he had accompanied Lalitha and put her on a bus residence.
However 19 minutes later, at 8.31 pm, Umesh allegedly known as Balaraju confessing that he had killed Lalitha and begged him to not inform anybody. Twelve minutes after that, he allegedly made one other determined name, pleading with Balaraju to delete the WhatsApp reside location that had been shared, as per the FIR. Balaraju and Uma instantly alerted the police.
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Following the digital path left by Lalitha’s shared location, the police discovered her physique buried in a forest. Umesh was arrested. So was an alleged confederate, Kiran Kumar—a person who seemingly had no motive for the homicide. What transpired later left the police shocked.
Kiran Kumar, the suspected confederate within the Karnataka girl’s homicide case. (Supply: Specific Photograph)
A routine query modifications the course of the probe
Throughout questioning, the police requested Kiran about his household. His response was allegedly matter-of-fact: his spouse Pooja had eloped with one other man a decade in the past, leaving him to lift their seven-year-old daughter alone, he instructed the police.
Nonetheless, Inspector Giriraj G Y, who was main the investigation, was puzzled by sure facets of Umesh’s crime. “Why would Umesh deliver his spouse all the best way from Madanayakanahalli to Magadi to kill her?” he remembers questioning. “He might have finished it anyplace near his place.”
When pressed, Umesh allegedly revealed that selecting the distant location had been Kiran’s thought. This element sparked Giriraj’s curiosity about Kiran’s background, particularly since no members of the family had visited him after his arrest.
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The breakthrough got here when a constable contacted Kiran’s mother-in-law, Gowramma, who lived in Tavarekere, Bengaluru. When requested about her daughter Pooja, Gowramma’s story differed from Kiran’s narrative, the police stated. She stated Pooja had disappeared 5 years in the past—not 10—and that Kiran had filed a lacking particular person’s grievance with Magadi police.
A fast test of police data, nonetheless, revealed that no such lacking grievance had ever been filed. When confronted with this discrepancy, Kiran allegedly claimed he had include two buddies to file the grievance. The police tracked down these alleged buddies, who categorically denied accompanying Kiran to any police station.
Confronted with proof of his alleged deception, Kiran’s fastidiously constructed story started to break down. Underneath intense interrogation, he allegedly confessed to a homicide in Hujugallu village in Ramanagara district that had remained hidden for 5 years.
The Drishyam connection
Kiran’s confession revealed a chilling parallel to the Mohanlal-starrer Drishyam that had allegedly impressed his crime. On Could 1, 2019, following fights together with his spouse, Pooja, he strangled her to dying, the police stated. Taking inspiration from the movie’s protagonist, George Kutty, he buried her physique in a forest close to Magadi, creating an elaborate cowl story about her eloping with one other man, the police added.
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To take care of his deception, Kiran allegedly ready a pretend police grievance, which he would present to Gowramma every time she inquired in regards to the investigation’s progress. Over time, Pooja’s household’s questions grew to become much less frequent, permitting Kiran to imagine he had gotten away with homicide.
When life mirrored Drishyam sequel
The story took an much more weird flip when Kiran revealed how Drishyam 2 additionally allegedly influenced his actions. Two years after the homicide, forest division officers started digging trenches within the space to forestall elephants from coming into close by villages. Fearing his crime is likely to be found, Kiran took inspiration from the sequel, he allegedly instructed the police.
He allegedly secretly excavated Pooja’s stays, burnt the bones and tooth, and reburied them at a farm. Just like the film’s protagonist, he believed destroying proof would eradicate any chance of detection, the police stated.
On August 26, 2024, based mostly on Gowramma’s grievance, the police registered a homicide case in opposition to Kiran. He led investigators to the burial web site, the place forensic consultants and Tahsildar Sharath Kumar oversaw the excavation. The burnt bones and tooth have been recovered and despatched for DNA evaluation, with samples from Gowramma taken for comparability.
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The Magadi police later filed cost sheets in each homicide instances. Although Umesh and Kiran are out on bail, a police officer stated that there was enough scientific proof to show the murders.