Bettampady mass murder case – remains of prime suspect found

Bettampady mass murder case – remains of prime suspect found

Mangalore Today News Network

Puttur, Nov 14, 2012 : The remains of Venkataramana Bhat, who was believed to be absconding in North India after murdering his wife and three children, were found under a tree in Kakkur forest on Nov 13, Tuesday.

Sandhya and her 3 children Vidhya, Vinutha, and Harigovind were found dead in their house in Bettampady on June 14, 2012. The murders terrified the villagers, and both local people and police officers believed that Sandhya’s husband Venkataramana Bhat (56) had murdered his wife and kids and fled the village. It was also suspected that the mother and her children were killed as part of a black magic ritual.

On Tuesday, the skeletal remains of Mr. Bhat, along with his umbrella and spectacles, were found under a tree in the forest, around 1km from his house.

Police investigations had revealed that Bhat had behaved in an extraordinarily rude manner toward his secretary Vimala Naik and had told her to go back home when she had reported for work. Later, he was spotted near a bus stand. The locals believed that he murdered his family and fled to North India. 

Now that his skeletal remains are found, police still suspect that he could have murdered his family before committing suicide. However, they say that they are still investigating the case.