Two shot at and arrested after kidnap and murder of 13-year-old boy in Bannerghatta

BENGALURU: Two accused were shot at and arrested when they were trying to flee after kidnapping and murdering a 13-year-old boy, near Kaggalipura road in the wee hours on Friday. The arrested are Gurumurthy, who worked as a part-time driver at the house of the victim, and his accomplice Gopalakrishna.

Grieving family members after identifying the body.

Based on specific information, Hulimavu police inspector Kumaraswamy and team went to Kaggalipura road to apprehend the accused, but the accused tried to attack the police with daggers. Sub-inspector Aravind sustained injuries in the attack. Inspector Kumaraswamy fired two warning shots in the air and then shot at the accused in the legs. The injured accused were later shifted to the Jayanagar general hospital.

The accused Gurumurthy and Gopalakrishna being taken to hospital.

Thiteen-year-old Nishchit, who had gone for tuition on Wednesday evening, was kidnaped and murdered near Bannerghatta on Thursday, police said. His partly burnt body was found in a deserted spot near Kaggalipura Road. Nishchit was a Class 7 student and the son of Achyut, a professor at a private college residing in Shantiniketan block of Arakere area.

According to Bengaluru Rural SP C K Baba, Nishchit was returning home from tuition when a man on a motorcycle took him away. Nishchit had left behind his bicycle at the spot. Later, his parents received a call from an unknown number demanding a ransom of Rs 5 lakh for his safe release. The kidnappers also threatened the family against contacting the police.

Daggers found at the scene of the shootout.

However, the boy’s father filed a complaint with the Hulimavu police station to save his son. As soon as the complaint was filed, the Hulimavu police intensified the investigation through CCTV footage and mobile location tracking. Meanwhile, the boy’s parents had prepared Rs. 5 lakh and were ready to give it to the kidnappers to bring their son back.

Sub-inspector Aravind (left) sustained injuries following which Inspector Kumaraswamy opened fire at the accused.

However, as soon as the kidnappers came to know that they had filed a complaint with the police about the kidnapping, they tied the boy’s hands, beat him to death, poured a little petrol on a stone by the roadside, set him on fire and fled, police said.

The police traced the kidnappers’ mobile phones to the location and discovered the partially burnt body in a deserted area on Kaggalipura Road in Bannerghatta. Police said that it is suspected that the boy died as a result of a brutal attack. In addition, his body was set on fire and was partially burned.

Electronics City DCP Narayan and Bengaluru Rural SP C K Baba visited the crime scene and inspected it. The mark of brutal murder was found at the spot where the boy was found. On Friday, the body was handed over to the family after post-mortem examination at St John’s Hospital.

About eight months ago, Nishchit’s mother Savitha had hired a driver, Gurumurthy, through the DriveU app. While dropping her off, Gurumurthy had told her that he is a resident of Weavers’ Colony and to contact him directly for driver services at lesser price. Savitha and Gurumurthy had also exchanged phone numbers.

#WATCH | Bengaluru, Karnataka: On the kidnapping and murder case of a 13-year-old boy, Bengaluru City Police Joint Commissioner Ramesh Banoth says, “This was reported at the Hulimavu police station the day before yesterday. Parents of the boy registered a complaint stating their… pic.twitter.com/zDnv15GFrz

— ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2025

Since the family owned a car, they had utilised Gurumurthy’s services on a few occasions during when Gurumurthy would also interact with Nishchit. Last week too, Gurumurthy had taken Nishchit on his motorcycle to Bannerghatta Circle to eat chaats.

After kidnapping Nishchit on Wednesday evening, Gurumurthy got his fried Gopalakrishna to make the ransom call from a stolen mobile phone and gave a location near Konanakunte to drop off the ransom amount. However, the duo did not turn up there. Later, they killed the boy.

Gurumurthy reportedly had watched the Tamil movie ‘Vikram’ and had planned his escape like in the movie. The brother of a police constable posted in Bengaluru, Gurumurthy had served a jail term after he was convicted under the POCSO Act for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.