Karnataka - Bangalore

Realtor-turned-film producer ‘confesses’ to shooting actor

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

In POLICE net: Police producing film producer Govardhan Murthy (centre) at a press conference in Bangalore on Sunday.

BANGALORE: Realtor-turned-film producer Govardhan Murthy (33), who was arrested from Kerala on Saturday in connection with the murder of Vinod Kumar, a budding film actor, recently, has reportedly confessed to killing the actor.

Before his arrest, the accused, who is said to be worth over Rs. 800 crore, had planned to flee the country till he obtained anticipatory bail.

Interrogation of the accused Murthy, who produced a recent Kannada movie Maadesha, and his friend Langda Babu (35) have reportedly revealed that the realtor fired at Vinod in an inebriated state at his Rose Heritage farm house in Bagalur village on October 6.

The investigations revealed that the accused fired at the victim without provocation nor had any business or personal interest, an official familiar with investigation told The Hindu.

“On October 6, Murthy had called his friend Shankar Reddy and a few people for a party to celebrate a successful land dealing in Devanahalli. Reddy went to the party along with his friend Vinod to the farmhouse.

“Around 1 a.m., a heated argument between Murthy and Reddy ensued, around the same time Murthy’s security guards Tiwari and Devu, who were posted at the entrance, fired in the air. Provoked by this, Murthy fired at Vinod,” the official said.

“The accused planned to take shelter in either the U.S., Dubai or the United Kingdom where he has substantial business interests.” The two, who were arrested from Akshaya Farm in Kundanur of Thrissur district in Kerala after a manhunt launched by the Bangalore police, were produced before presspersons on Sunday.

“Murthy is an international realtor and has set up offices in Dubai, London, America and other countries. A large number of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and foreign nationals had made investments in his projects,” the official said.

The official said that soon after the incident, Murthy rushed to his LG Farm at Nandi Cross near Devanahalli, and later he hid the weapon used for killing, at his garment factory in Whitefield. Later, he went to Sidlaghatta, Chintamani and to a few places in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu before reaching Thrissur. On the run, the accused stopped using mobile phones and even hesitated to use debit cards at ATMs. The police sought help of homemakers and students to secure information about media reports on the incident, official said.

The police have also recovered two pistols, including an unlicensed one, live cartridges, mobile phones and passports from the accused. Langda Babu has been arrested on charges of harbouring Govardhan Murthy.

“We are sending the seized weapons to the Forensic Science Laboratory for tests. We have taken initiatives to cancel the gun licence, which was issued to Murthy.

“The weapon recovered from Babu is unlicensed, we suspect that Murthy had purchased that from illegal weapon suppliers,” said a police officer.

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