Three charred bodies found in a burnt car on lake bed in Tumakuru

Team Udayavani, Mar 22, 2024, 7:04 PM IST

Tumakuru: Three charred bodies were found in a burnt car on a lake bed on the outskirts of this district headquarters town about 70 km from Bengaluru, police said on Friday.

Police suspect it to be a case of murder and said that investigations are in full swing.

According to police, the burnt car with charred bodies beyond recognition was found on the lake bed of Kuchchangi lake here today.

“We don’t know how the incident happened. Our investigations are on. It could be murder. Two bodies were in the boot space and the third body was in the second row. The incident may have happened in the midnight. It came to our notice only today afternoon,” Tumakuru Superintendent of Police Ashok K V told PTI.

Bodies are of persons from Belthangady?

As per preliminary information, the charred human remains are suspected to be of persons from Belthangady.

It is believed that Sahul Hameed (45), a resident of TB Cross Kuntini, Laila village, who is an auto driver, Isak (50), a resident of TB Cross Kuntini, Laila village, and Siddique (35), a resident of Shirlalu village, who was selling clothes on the footpath in Belthangadi, were traveling in the car

It is gathered that the car (registration KA 43N 1571) belonged to Rafiq, a resident of Maddadka, Kuvettu village. About 12 days ago,  Isak borrowed the car on rent to travel to Tumakuru.

On March 20, Isak reportedly called Rafiq informing him that the car would be returned in two days. There was no communication from him since then.

Two of the bodies were found in the boot of the car while the other was found in the back seat. The remains were charred beyond recognition, sources said.

Kidnapped and murdered?

It is claimed that the three had gone from Belthangadi to Tumakuru for business negotiations. It is suspected that the trio was abducted and murdered. More information is to be gathered from the police investigation.

As the identity of the deceased has not been ascertained, no police complaint has been registered.

(With PTI inputs)