Date:23/08/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/08/23/stories/2005082319310300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Two security guards murdered

Staff Reporter

Locks of Karnataka State Agro Corn Products Corporation intact, nothing stolen

SCENE OF CRIME: The spot where two security guards were murdered at the Karnataka State Agro Corn Products Corporation Limited in Bangalore on Monday. — Photo; K. Gopinathan

BANGALORE: Two security guards were found murdered on Monday at the Karnataka State Agro Corn Products Corporation Limited, a State Government undertaking, situated opposite the Hebbal police station on Bellary Road.

Commissioner of Police Ajai Kumar Singh said the motive behind the murder is yet to be ascertained. The locks of the Karnataka State Agro Corn Products Corporation Limited were intact and nothing was stolen from the office, he said.

The assailants attacked the two security guards on the head and face with a sharp object, Dr. Singh said. While one of the guards, B.H. Nagaraj (23) of Harihar taluk in Davangere district was killed on the spot, the other, Manikantan (20) of H.D. Kote taluk in Mysore district, died of injuries at a hospital, he said.

According to the police, four security guards were on duty at the office on Sunday night. While Nagaraj and Manikantan were posted at the main gate, Yogesh and Shiva Kumar were on duty at the rear of the building.

Around 6 a.m. on Monday two security guards, Govinda Reddy and Narasiappa, came to the office to relieve their colleagues who were on night duty. As the main gate was open, they peeped into the security cabin next to the gate and found Manikantan lying unconscious. As he was bleeding, they alerted the Hebbal police.

A Hoysala patrol vehicle rushed there and took Manikantan to a private hospital on Bellary Road. Later, he was shifted to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, where he died. Nagaraj was found dead in a small room at the entrance of the building, the police said.

The two had been working as security guards for the past 20 days with the Vijayanagar-based Novel Security Agency. The agency had posted them at the Karnataka State Agro Corn Products Corporation Limited.