The Kalaburagi police cracked a three-month-old murder of a businessman who was shot dead near his house in Godutai Nagar in the city on August 27. The deceased Sunil Ranka, 42, was from Rajasthan and had settled in Kalaburagi more than a decade ago and had established his business in floor tiles, granites and also contracting work for false ceiling, suspended ceiling, and Plaster of Paris design. The case was registered at Ashok Nagar police station.
Team formed
Kalaburagi Police Commissioner N. Satish Kumar and Deputy Police Commissioner Kishore Babu formed a team led by Ashok Nagar Police Sub-Inspector Pandit Sangar and commenced an investigation into the murder and arrested four persons – Ambreesh Rathod of Biddapur Colony in the city, Rajashekar Rathod from Shahransirasagi tanda on the outskirts of the city, Gundu Rathod from Hadgil Haruti village and Namdev Homu Lonari from Khatijapur village in Vijayapur district in connection with the murder of Sunil Ranka.
During the interrogation, the accused confessed to the entire crime. Ambreesh Rathod was working at a granite shop located just beside the victim shop. He kept a watch on Ranka’s business and transactions for years and hatched a plot to kill him and take the money. The case was difficult for the police, as they did not get any vital clues initially. They collected CCTV footage from 50 locations from the surrounding areas and also traced call records of 5,000 mobile numbers near the crime scene.
The mastermind behind the murder Ambreesh planned to kill Ranka and decamp with the collection money that he regularly carried with him. According to the plan, his associates Rajashekar, Namdev, and Gundu pursued Ranka and killed him near his house, and decamped with ₹1.84 lakh.
On the same night, the three miscreants met Ambreesh near High Court and handed over the cash bag and the weapon used for the crime. Ambreesh in turn distributed the share amount ₹39,000 to Rajashekar, ₹30,000 to Namdev, and ₹20,000 to Gundu for helping him execute the murder.
Accused caught
Ambreesh was arrested by Vijayapura police on October 30, during his visit to Khatijapur village for the wedding of Namdev Lonari. The police also recovered the pistol from him. A case was registered against him at Vijayapura Rural police station.
Ambreesh also confessed that he had purchased a pistol from Prakash Rajput of Hanchinal village in Vijayapur district, the weapon was supplied by Ajez Patel of Nandral village of Indi taluk in Vijayapura district. He also confessed to the involvement of Namdev, Rajashekar, and Gundu.
