HASSAN: A young man, who was allegedly kidnapped three days ago after he asked for money that he had lent to be returned, was found murdered in Yogihalli forest in Hassan taluk on Wednesday.
The deceased was identified as Likhith Gowda (26), who was running a vehicle service station. He was married just eight months ago. The accused are Naveen and Sagar.
A missing person’s complaint was registered at K R Pura police station. The murder came to light when police intensified the investigation under the guidance of district Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar. Likhith was wearing a purple T-shirt and black trousers the day he went missing. The phones of the victim and the accused had been switched off from that day.
Naveen borrowed Rs 2.5 lakh from Likhith Gowda, but did not return it. It is said that Naveen and Likhith had quarreled over the loan. Likhith had later presented a cheque from Naveen for Rs 10 lakh, but it bounced. Following this, Likhith had seized Naveen’s Honda Active and they had an argument again over this.
On February 5 evening at 6.30, Naveen and Sagar took Likhith Gowda outside in a Maruti Omni car (KA-41-MA-9231), promising that they will return the money. They then killed Likhith and dumped the body in the forest.