Hassan: Unable to repay Rs 1 lakh loan, couple murders friend at lodge

Hassan: The murder of a young man at a lodge in Arakkalagudu taluk has taken a dramatic twist. It has now come to light that the youth was murdered by the husband and wife duo over the issue of a Rs 1 lakh loan, police said.

Earlier, police had suspected that the youth named, Harish, was killed due to an illicit relationship.

The accused Dilip and his wife Sushmitha, natives of Hoskote village in Somwarpet Taluk of Kodagu district, have now been apprehended for the crime, police added. their accomplice Laxman had been arrested fromt he scene of the crime on January 18.

According to police, Dilip and Sushmita had settled in Bangalore. They had borrowed Rs 1 lakh from Harish, a friend of Dileep’s from the same village, to pay for the expenses of eye surgery for his daughter.

Harish hounded the couple for returning the borrowed money. Unable to pay the money, the couple planned to kill him.

On January 18, Sushmita booked a room for two persons at the BSP lodged at Konanur and went out to bring her husband back. In the meantime, Dilip and his brother Laxman had booked another room in the same lodge separately.

Sushmitha later invited Harish to the room on the pretext of handing over the money. But before they arrived at the room, Dilip and Laxman had hidden in the bathroom. On reaching the room, Shushmitha struck up a casual conversation and suddenly tossed chili power onto his eyes. Dilip and Laxman rushed out of the toilet and stabbed Harish with a knife they had brought with them.

Harish’s painful screams alerted the lodge owner who bolted the room from outside and called the police. But before that Dilip and Sushmitha had escaped from the room. Only Laxman was stuck inside, who was later arrested by police.

During questioning, police uncovered the motive behind the crime.