A Bengaluru tech professional who went missing in late October has been found murdered in Andhra Pradesh. The victim, 34-year-old software engineer Shrinath K, disappeared from Attibele on October 27. His body was recovered on November 16 after police exhumed it from an abandoned house near Kuppam in Chittoor district.
Cousin Behind Murder
Police said Shrinath was killed by his cousin Prabhakar, 39, a Kuppam resident with a criminal history, along with his associate Jagadish, 35. Both have been arrested. Shrinath lived in Neraluru, Bengaluru, with his wife Neha MP and their child. When he failed to return home, Neha filed a missing complaint on November 1, telling police she suspected Prabhakar, whom her husband had gone to meet that day.
Investigators found that Prabhakar had taken Rs 40 lakh from Shrinath, promising to double the amount. When Shrinath asked for the money back, Prabhakar and Jagadish allegedly planned the murder. Prabhakar lured Shrinath to Kuppam, struck him on the head with a hammer, and buried him in an abandoned building.
Twists In Investigation
Prabhakar initially denied meeting Shrinath and produced evidence to suggest he was in Bengaluru at the time, briefly throwing the probe off track. But Neha insisted her husband had transferred a large sum to him.
Acting on this, senior officers directed Attibele police to upgrade the case to kidnapping, leading to Prabhakar’s arrest on November 13.
Confession After Custody
During interrogation, Prabhakar attempted to blame Neha for the killing—an allegation police immediately found suspicious. Under sustained questioning, he confessed, detailing how he lured Shrinath to a government housing colony, assaulted him with a hammer, and buried the body with Jagadish’s help.
He claimed he had received only Rs 10 lakh and returned Rs 5 lakh, but chose to eliminate Shrinath when he kept asking for the remaining amount.
