BALLARI: A gold merchant, who was kidnapped a week ago, was found dead in the Tungabhadra river near the Harvi bridge close to Holalu in Hoovinahadagali taluk on Friday nigday. The victim was identified Manjunath
The kidnappers, identified as Ujjammanavar Mallikarjun (27) and Angadi Yogesh (25), allegedly abducted and killed Manjunath, then dumped his body into the Tungabhadra river before fleeing.
The police arrested the duo from Maharashtra, who confessed to the crime during interrogation. Based on their statement, the police and fire brigade team conducted a search operation and recovered Manjunath’s body near the Harvi bridge near Basapur.
The police had formed four teams to investigate the case, led by Vijayanagara SP Jahnavi S, to apprehend the accused, who had fled to Maharashtra. The police managed to track down the suspects and arrested them. During questioning, they revealed that they had killed Manjunath and thrown his body into the Tungabhadra river.

