Skeletons in abandoned house: Death note mentions property dispute, cops to quiz duo

CHITRADURGA: Two days after the skeletal remains of five people were found at an abandoned house here, the autopsy was conducted on Saturday and the last rites were conducted by relatives the same evening.

While the police are awaiting the report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), two of the skeletons, one of a man and another of a woman, were reportedly found bound at the leg, giving rise to suspicion of murder.

Meanwhile, police sources said the death note found at the house of retired PWD executive engineer N K Jagannath Reddy mentions about a property dispute regarding a farm land at Dodda Siddavvanahalli in Chitradurga taluk and makes mention of torture by Ravi and Vishwas. The police are now planning to question the duo.

The unsigned and undated letter says the family had incurred huge costs after one of the sons, Narendra Reddy, was jailed in a dacoity case registered in 2017 at the Bidadi police station. Another cheating case had been registered against him in Tumakuru. Due to the mental harassment, the family members were committing suicide, the letter said.

The police suspect that the letter was written in 2019 when the family members ended their lives. It is also suspected that thieves and stray dogs may have entered the house over the last four years and the police have collected fingerprints and other forensic evidence and are investigating the case from all angles, the sources added.