Ayurveda Doctor Missing for 7 Months Found Murdered over Property Dispute

Bengaluru: The mysterious disappearance of a 44-year-old Ayurveda practitioner from Jayanagar, Bengaluru, in June 2024 has led to the arrest of three individuals after a police investigation confirmed that the doctor was murdered over a property dispute. Reports revealed that the accused dumped the doctor's body in the backwaters of the Lakshmana Teertha River at Sagarkatte to hide the crime. 

According to the police, the doctor was last contacted by his uncle, Raghupatiraj, on June 1, 2024. After several attempts to reach him failed, Raghupatiraj visited the doctor's house in 9th Cross, 7th Block, Jayanagar to check up on him. After reaching his place, he found that the house had been demolished and the plot was vacant. 

Raghupatiraj searched for him at the houses of relatives and friends but to no avail. Unable to find the doctor, Raghupatiraj filed a missing complaint with the Banashankari police on July 18 last year. 

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During the investigation, police discovered that the doctor had been in contact with Mohammed Gaus, a 31-year-old painter, before his disappearance. Gaus informed the police that the doctor had sold his house to a person named Prasad. After that, he told the police that the doctor informed him about going to Chennai but searches in Chennai resulted in no leads, and the investigation stalled.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, Raghupatiraj filed a habeas corpus petition in the Karnataka High Court. The court ordered the police to trace Anand as soon as possible and report to the bench. Following this, the police resumed the investigation, as reported by Navbharat Times. 

In October, police traced activity from the doctor's phone to Chhattisgarh. It was found that his phone was turned on. They reached Chhattisgarh in search of the person using his phone. This led them to Syed Noor Pasha, a friend of Mohammed Gaus. Following further interrogation, Gaus confessed that Noor Pasha and Nadeem had strangled Anand to death and dumped his body in the backwaters of the Lakshmana Teertha river at Sagarkatte, Yelavalala, Mysore.

According to Gaus, the doctor had hired him to paint his house but later involved him in the sale of the property. Gaus knew that the doctor's efforts to sell the house to Prasad were in trouble. Therefore, he offered to resolve the issue. He took the help of two real estate brokers, fixed the price of the house at Rs 90 lakh and got it registered in Prasad's name.

As per the Daily, the buyer paid Rs 45 lakh to Gaus and said he would pay the rest to the doctor after resolving some pending issues regarding the house. After the registration of the house, the doctor shifted to a hotel in Mysore. Without taking his consent, Gaus gave the keys to Prasad and asked him to demolish the house.

Gaus paid Rs 18 lakh to two real estate brokers and Rs 10 lakh to a lawyer. He kept the remaining Rs 17 lakh with himself. When the doctor, began demanding his money, Gaus and his associates Syed Noor Pasha and Nadeem Pasha plotted to kill him.

On July 9, they lured the doctor into a car around 1 am under the pretence of travelling to Bengaluru. During the journey, they strangled him while he was sleeping in the car. After he died, they threw the body into the river and fled.

The Banashankari police came to know from the Yelawala police that an unidentified body was found in the river on July 11. When they could not identify it, they buried it. Photographs of the body confirmed that it was the doctor's body. 

A senior police officer told the daily, "Since the crime took place in Mysore, the case would be handed over to the Mysore police." Therefore an investigation is underway. 

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