Date:17/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/17/stories/2006021724420300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Two youths murdered near Nelamangala

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Two persons were clubbed to death in Nelamangala police station limits in Bangalore Rural district.

The police said that around 7.30 a.m. on Thursday, passers-by found the two bodies lying on roadside near Gurudevanahalli on Sooladevanahalli Road, about 1.5 km from the Bangalore-Mangalore National Highway.

The two had been hit on the head with clubs. A few clubs and a moped were found near the bodies.

The victims were identified as Siddaraju (35) and Hanumanthaiah (30), both farmers of Chowdasandra in Nelamanagala taluk.

The two had come to Nelamangala on Wednesday to withdraw money from a chit fund scheme. The person running the chit fund told the police that they left Nelamangala on a moped around 7.30 p.m.

The cash in the trouser pockets of Siddaraju and Hanumanthaiah was intact.

The police suspect that the two could have been murdered over financial matters.

On a complaint by Siddaraju's brother, Venkatesh, the Nelamangala police have registered a case.