Payal Surekha murder case: CBI court sentences gym trainer to life imprisonment

Bengaluru: A special CBI court in Bengaluru has sentenced a gym instructor to life imprisonment for the murder of an Information Technology professional, officials said on Thursday.

“The special judge for CBI cases, Bengaluru has sentenced James Kumar Ray to undergo life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1 lakh in a case related to the murder of Payal Surekha, an Information Technology professional,” The CBI spokesperson said in a statement Thursday evening.

The court further ordered that the husband of the woman is entitled for the fine amount in the form of compensation, he said.

Bengaluru police had charge sheeted Ray for the murder of Surekha, who was killed at her flat in JP Nagar on December 17, 2010.

The family of the deceased approached the Supreme Court which transferred the case to the CBI for further investigation, he said.

According to the CBI, in 2008, Surekha married Anantha Narayana Mishra, who was running a gymnasium in Bengaluru.

Nearly a year later, Mishra opened another gym in Cuttack with some friends as his partners, he said.

Ray, who was working at the Cuttack gym, allegedly started posing as the owner and misappropriated funds, the CBI said.

Later, Mishra removed Ray from the job which affected the financial position as well as the social status of Ray.

“It was also alleged that Mishra and his father castigated Ray in front of all gym trainees. Ray felt deeply insulted by the harsh words of Mishra and decided to take revenge on them,” the spokesperson said.

As revenge he planned to kill Surekha who was living alone in Bengaluru.

After coming to know of Mishra’s schedule, who was in Odisha on December 16, 2010, Ray reached the house of the victim in Bengaluru on December 17, he said.

Finding her alone, he killed her by brutally stabbing her with a knife.

After committing the murder, Ray left Bengaluru for Hyderabad, he said.