Rajajinagar murders: Police retrieve two more bodies from Tamil Nadu; search on for four

Indushekhar, the prime accused in the Rajajinagar murders case. | Photo Credit: File photo The Bengaluru police probing the chilling Rajajinagar murders have retrieved two more bodies, believed to be those of Sunita and Roopavathi, from near the Yercaud forest area in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu on Saturday (November 7), senior officers confirmed to The Hindu.Sunita, 40, was the wife of the prime accused, Indushekhar, 52, while Roopavathi, 65, was his mother-in-law. However, their identities are yet to be officially established, as the bodies were found in a decomposed state. The two are the first victims in the alleged murder spree.On Friday (November 6), the Bengaluru police arrested Indushekhar, who allegedly killed his wife and six members of her family, including a seven-year-old boy, and disposed of the bodies over a span of 18 days. An 11-year-old boy, a relative of the accused, was rescued. Only the seven-year-old’s body was found on Friday.According to sources, Sunita was murdered on October 16 and Roopavathi the following day. However, it is still unclear whether he disposed of the bodies on the same day, as claimed by the accused, or dumped them separately. “Although he has given statements and those are being treated as leads, we need corroborating evidence. Hence, a reverse recce to collect details is being conducted,” a senior officer said.With this, the police have recovered three bodies so far, while search operations for the remaining bodies are under way. The entire operation could take another two to three days, as the bodies were disposed of at multiple locations.New investigation headConsidering the complexity of the case, B. Nemagoud, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), North, has been appointed as the investigating officer. Six police teams have also been formed to probe different aspects of the case, while Joint Commissioner of Police (West), C. Vamsi Krishna, has been overseeing the investigation.According to the officer, teams have been deployed to conduct search operations at Chamundi Hills and Shiradi Ghat as part of the next phase of the investigation.“We have taken leads from his statements and initiated search operations, but having him physically present is important because even with him, marking the exact locations is difficult. Besides, he may have disposed of the bodies deep inside forest areas, among thick shrubs,” he said.The officer stressed that recovering the bodies at the earliest was the top priority, as further decomposition could limit the details that could be established through postmortem examinations. Considering the importance of the accused’s physical presence during the search operations, the police have secured 12 days of his custody.Questions remainSeveral links in the case are yet to be established. One of the major questions confronting investigators concerns the logistics and method used to bring the bodies down from the second floor of the building located near the busy Bhashyam Circle in Rajajinagar.The accused has claimed that he shifted the bodies during the night. However, the staircase, which appears to be less than two feet wide, has raised suspicions. Bringing the bodies down single-handedly would have been a Herculean task. A strong suspicion is that he may have used ropes to lower the bodies to the ground, possibly with the help of his 17-year-old daughter, who is also an accused in the case.Meanwhile, other teams have been deputed to investigate various other angles, including tracing the accused’s movements between October 16 and November 2. Published - November 07, 2026 09:31 pm IST