The death of a former panchayat member of Makali village in Bengaluru South (formerly Ramanagara) district, initially believed to be a suicide, has turned out to be a murder allegedly orchestrated by his wife.
Lokesh, 45, was found dead off Kanva Road in Ramanagara on June 23, with a poison bottle lying next to him, raising suspicion of suicide. The initial statements from the family members, including Lokesh’s wife, Chandrakala, a member of the Makali Gram Panchayat, led to police filing an unnatural death report, as everyone claimed that Lokesh had taken multiple loans.
However, police found some inconsistencies in the crime scene — while there was a poison bottle next to Lokesh, its lid was missing, and one slipper of Lokesh was untraced.
An officer involved in the case told The Hindu that they found something amiss while questioning Chandrakala, and decided to check her call records.
“On the day of Lokesh’s death, Chandrakala had called a person named Yogesh multiple times, which raised suspicion. When we checked Yogesh’s call record, he was in communication with one Santosh, who was earlier arrested in a murder case,” the officer said, adding that they went after Santosh after that.
According to the police, Santosh’s network dump revealed that he was around the crime scene on the day of the murder. Not just him — three more people, Shivaling, Surya, and Chandan, who were on Santosh’s contact list, were also present at the crime scene.
Police detained Chandrakala and grilled her, reportedly leading to her confession. Subsequently, the police arrested all five men.
“Chandrakala used to stay mostly in Bengaluru along with her two children, while Lokesh visited weekly. She used to travel to M.K. Doddi only when there was a panchayat meeting,” the officer quoted earlier said, adding that the couple often fought with each other over suspicion that both of them had affairs outside marriage. Chandrakala called her friend Yogesh and shared her ordeal, following which, they allegedly decided to eliminate Lokesh, the officer said.
Subsequently, Yogesh allegedly contacted his schoolmate and a murder accused, Santosh, and hired him to murder Lokesh for ₹5 lakh. They all allegedly met and hatched a plan to make the murder appear like a suicide.
On the night of June 23, when Lokesh was returning from Bengaluru, Yogesh got his minute-to-minute whereabouts, and shared it with Santosh and the gang. Santosh and the team intercepted Lokesh near Kanva Road, forcefully fed him poison, and fled the scene, according to the police.
Published – July 25, 2025 11:29 pm IST
