Last seen with victim, man gets life term for murder

Convicts pic in comyanBengaluru: A city court convicted a youth of murder and his associate of destruction of evidence after taking cognizance of eyewitness statements that they were last seen with the victim. Judge Amritha S Rao Monday held C Tejas alias Kariya, 27, of Hoskote, guilty of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 45,000. His associate, G Rajesh alias Mukund, 26, was awarded five years of imprisonment with a fine of Rs 20,000 for destruction of evidence.Private company employees Pavan Kumar was murdered near a temple on Amanikere lakebed in Hoskote on the night of June 7, 2019. His body was found with multiple stab wounds. A team led by DySP ME Manoj Kumar launched investigation and arrested the suspects — Tejas, quality testing staffer at a milk society, and Rajesh, a carpenter."Tejas wanted to marry a relative, but she firmly refused, saying she was in love with Pavan. Tejas tried to convince the girl repeatedly into marrying him and even threatened her. When she did not budge, Tejas decided to eliminate Pavan," the police chargesheet read.Public prosecutor Chandrakala A said circumstantial and scientific evidence played a vital role in the conviction. "There was no eyewitness to the killing. But there were individuals who had seen Pavan sitting on the lakebed with Tejas and Rajesh on the night of the murder. Further, call detail records clearly showed Tejas, Pavan and the girl called each other many times, indicating something was happening between them," Chandrakala said."Just before the murder, Tejas and Rajesh visited a bar to purchase beer bottles, and the bottles were recovered from the crime scene. Before that, Tejas purchased a knife by paying Rs 60," she said.Rajesh helped Tejas destroy Pavan's mobile phone by smashing it and throwing it inside bushes nearby. Rajesh also burnt Teja's blood-soaked shirt by pouring petrol on it and setting it ablaze.
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