5 most gruesome murders in Karnataka that shook entire nation in recent past

Darshan, a prominent Kannada film actor, along with his girlfriend Pavithra Gowda and 11 others, were taken into custody on Tuesday in connection with the alleged murder of S Renukaswamy, a 33-year-old resident of Chitradurga. Renukaswamy had reportedly posted offensive remarks about Pavithra online. The deceased's body was discovered in a drain located in Kamakshipalya, Bengaluru, approximately 200km away from Chitradurga, on 9 June. According to the ongoing investigation, Swamy, who worked at a pharmacy store and was a fan of Darshan, had been subjected to torture before his death, and his body was subsequently disposed of in the drain.

The brutal murder of Neha Hiremath, a 24-year-old MCA student, on the BVB campus of KLE Technological University in Hubballi on April 18, 2024, sparked widespread outrage across several districts in north Karnataka. Thousands of students and shocked citizens lined the funeral route in Hubballi on Friday to pay their respects. The accused, Fayaz Kondunaik, 24, from Munavalli in Belagavi district, claimed to be Neha's former friend and had allegedly killed her for avoiding him despite his attempts to interact with her. According to doctors at KIMS Hospital, where Neha was brought dead, her body had 10 stab wounds.

Murder of four persons, including a BJP functionary’s son in Gadag town, in the early hours on 19 April. The victims were stabbed to death multiple times by assailants, who had entered the house by breaking open one of the windows on the first floor of the house at Dasar Oni near Channamma Circle in Gadag. The victims were Kartik Bakale, son of Gadag-Betgeri City Municipal Council (GBCMC) vice-president (BJP) Sunanda Bakale, Parashuram Jagannathsa Hadimani, his wife Laxmibai Parashuram Hadimani, and their daughter Akanksha Parashuram Hadimani from Bhagyanagar in Koppal district. Eight persons were arrested by the police in connection with the murder of four people. Vinayak allegedly paid Rs 65 lakh to have his parents and stepbrother killed due to a property dispute. However, the plan went wrong, and the killers mistakenly murdered three guests instead of the intended targets.

A 21-year-old autorickshaw driver named Girish Savant alias Vishwa fatally stabbed his former classmate, Anjali Ambiger, in Dharwad on 15 May, 2024. The attack occurred when Girish forcefully entered Anjali's house early in the morning and stabbed her multiple times in the neck and stomach, despite the efforts of her sister and grandmother to intervene. Anjali succumbed to her injuries on the spot, and the accused fled the scene. Girish and Anjali had been friends for a year, but their relationship had recently soured. Anjali had reportedly rejected Girish's proposal to go on a holiday to Mysuru.

On May 14, 2024, Zarina Utkirovna, a 27-year-old woman from Uzbekistan, was discovered lifeless in her hotel room under perplexing circumstances. The incident occurred at Jagadish Hotel, situated adjacent to the BDA headquarters on Sankey Road, in the Kumara Park West area of the Bengaluru.
Utkirovna had entered India on a tourist visa, arriving first in Delhi before traveling to the city on March 5. Upon her arrival, she checked into the hotel and was given a room on the second floor, where her body was later found. Two housekeeping staff members of the hotel were arrested charged with her murder. The accused, Amrit Sona and Robert, both from Assam and employed at the hotel for nearly a year, believed that Zarina possessed a large sum of money. They thought that robbing her would make them rich quickly.