Belthangady trio lured with gold deal, bodies burnt inside car in Tumakuru lake

TUMAKURU: Three men from Belthangady taluk, who were found burnt to death in a car at Kuchangi lake here on Thursday, had been lured with the offer of gold at low prices and killed, initial investigation has revealed. The police have taken six people, including the prime accused Swami, into custody and are questioning them.

The deceased were identified as Shahul Hamid (45), a resident of TB Cross in Nada village of Beltangady taluk, Ishaq (56) Kuvettu village and Imtiaz Siddique (34) of Shirlala village. Their bodies were burnt beyond recognition after their car was set on fire. After the post-mortem examination, the bodies were handed over to their families today.

As per the initial investigation, the accused had lured the trio with an offer of selling gold at low prices claiming to have found a pot of gold while tilling the field. When the trio arrived in Tumakuru, the accused showed them fake gold, killed them and took away the money the trio had brought with them.

Ishaq, Imtiaz and Shahul.

The tied up the hands and legs of the deceased, dumped two of the bodies in the boot and one in the rear seat and set the car on fire so that their identities cannot be established. The police managed to trace the car owner and were finally able to identify the dead men.

Ishaq, who was into real estate business, convinced Shahul, an auto driver, and Imtiaz, who worked at a footwear store, that he had struck a deal and to travel with him to Tumakuru 11 days ago. Ishaq had also borrowed the car from his friend Rafiq and was in touch with his family members till Thursday evening. However, that night, his phone was switched off.

Based in the car’s registration number, the police contacted the owner Rafiq who admitted to have lent the car to Ishaq 15 days ago. The police then informed the families of the deceased who arrived here and confirmed their identities. The Kora police have taken up further investigation.