For Rs 30-lakh insurance money, Karnataka man stages road accident to kill father, arrested after 6 months

A Srinivasulu, Superintendent of Police, Kalaburagi, announced the arrests on Tuesday.

From accident to murder

On July 8 last year, a road accident case was registered at the Madbool police station on the basis of Satish’s complaint that he and his father were riding a two-wheeler near Bennur Crossroad when a tractor hit them from behind. Kalingaraya died on the spot while Satish was injured and shifted to a private hospital.

The police began searching for the tractor but did not get much information from Satish. “Satish used to ignore us whenever we wanted to record a statement, claiming he was in trauma and injured. We did not press him, considering he had lost his father,” a police officer said.

However, a month after the incident, Satish and his family members vacated their home and moved to Sultanpur in Andhra Pradesh. This surprised the local police, who checked with neighbours and learnt that Satish and his father had borrowed money from several people. Satish, while vacating the house, informed the neighbours that he was unable to repay the loans and had therefore to leave the city.

While the police were yet to file a chargesheet, they began receiving calls from lawyers requesting that the chargesheet be filed as soon as possible. Madbool Sub-inspector Chetan said, “We were surprised because Satish was not in contact with the police but lawyers were making calls asking us to file the chargesheet. There was some suspicion from the initial days, as he had not provided a proper statement.”

Eventually, background checks revealed that there were two insurance policies in Kalingaraya’s name, one worth Rs 25 lakh and another Rs 5 lakh, Chetan said. “Satish had received Rs 5 lakh and was waiting for the Rs 25 lakh, as insurance officials had said they could disburse the amount only after the chargesheet was filed. As suspicions grew, Deputy Superintendent of Police Shankargoud Patil formed a special team under the leadership of Inspector Jagadevappa Pala,” he added.

Satish was then detained. “When we confronted him with a few questions, his responses were not convincing. Upon checking call data records and bank transactions, we found that more people were involved,” a police officer said.

Satish eventually admitted to killing his father, the police said. The investigation revealed that Kalingaraya had incurred losses in his business during Covid. He had borrowed money from people to arrange his daughter’s marriage, leaving the burden of repayment on Satish, even as their business was struggling.

Arun, a friend of Satish, advised him to buy an insurance policy in his father’s name. Satish thus got two insurance policies in January and March, respectively, in his father’s name. Later he approached Arun, who allegedly suggested that he kill his father to claim the insurance money.

The police said Arun then hired Rakesh and Yuvaraj, paying them a paltry Rs 20,000 through a digital transaction. On July 8, Satish took his father on his two-wheeler and stopped it to attend to nature’s call. While his father was sitting on the two-wheeler, Satish alerted Arun and the others during a conference call. Rakesh and Yuvaraj, who were in a tractor, allegedly hit Kalingaraya while he was waiting for his son. To ensure his death, the tractor was driven over Kalingaraya again, the police added.

To mislead the police, Yuvaraj and Rakesh struck Satish on the head with stones to make it appear as though he was also injured in the road accident.

All the accused have been arrested.

It can be recalled that in August last year, a couple and a truck driver were arrested for allegedly orchestrating the killing of a man to claim life insurance benefits and cover their financial losses in Hassan district.