Burqaclad intruders, deadly plot: Karnataka family’s murder plot faked as midnight robbery

CHIKKABALLAPUR: A midnight robbery, two burqaclad intruders and a grieving sister-in-law peppersprayed in the dark — the initial report of 23-year-old B Pushpalatha’s murder had all the hallmarks of a brutal heist gone wrong.

But when Chikkaballapur superintendent of police Kushal Chouksey stepped into the crime scene at Bapujinagar, his instincts flashed a warning. What followed was a forensic deduction that shattered a family’s elaborate cover-up within hours.

On the night of May 28, Chikkaballapur police control room received a frantic call from Bhavya, the victim’s sister-in-law. She claimed two masked attackers had forced their way inside, blinded her with pepper spray, assaulted her and slit the throat of Pushpalatha — a contract employee with the local RTO — before fleeing with her mangalsutra.

Bhavya then checked herself into a local hospital for treatment. When Chouksey and his team visited Bhavya’s hospital bed, her tale began to unravel.

The fatal cut on Pushpalatha’s neck had minimal blood flow. This proved she was smothered to death before her throat was slit.

Medical examination showed zero traces of pepper spray on Bhavya. Her body bore no signs of the “severe beating” she’d claimed.

“She also had no logical explanation for why she opened the door to strangers at midnight,” Chouksey noted.

Armed with doctors’ clearance, a team of women police officers, alongside Chouksey, commenced interrogation and Bhavya broke down.

The investigation uncovered a dark history of domestic discord and extortion. Bhavya recently returned to her parents’ home after deserting her husband at Hoskote to elope with a truck driver, Krishna. The romance quickly soured when Krishna began blackmailing Bhavya with private videos. Desperate, Bhavya confided in a relative, Lohit (alias Lolly). Lohit demanded the videos and launched his own extortion racket.

He successfully bled Bhavya of Rs 6 lakh across two transactions, squandering the fortune on gambling and alcohol. When Lohit demanded more cash, Bhavya narrated the blackmail to her mother, N Vijayalakshmi, and grandmother, Nagamma.

Together, the three women hatched a sinister plot: They would orchestrate a fake robbery, use Lohit to eliminate Pushpalatha over a family feud and steal her gold to satisfy the extortionist.

On May 27, Pushpalatha’s husband, Bharath, and his father left for a pilgrimage to Tamil Nadu. Though Pushpalatha lived separately, Bhavya invited her over so she “wouldn’t be alone.”

At midnight, Bhavya unlocked the front door. Lohit slipped inside, smothered the sleeping 23-year-old with a pillow and then slit her throat to fake a violent robbery. He ripped the mangalsutra from her neck and vanished.

The plot to pin the murder on fictional, burqa-clad thieves collapsed. Police arrested Lohit, Bhavya, Vijayalakshmi and Nagamma.