A terror attack and four gruesome murders

Video grab images of Rameshwaram Cafe in Brookefield after an improvised explosive device went off there on March 1, 2024.

In the year gone by, 2024, Bengaluru again became a target of a terror attack after a decade. The case where Kannada film actor Darshan was arrested for the gruesome murder of one of his fans, Renukaswamy, hogged much limelight. The city was also rocked by three murders where working women were killed by their male friends.

Rameshwaram Cafe blast 

An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) kept in a bag at The Rameshwaram Cafe, in Brookefield, exploded injuring nine persons on March 1. The last such terror attack in the city was on December 28, 2014 in Church Street, that killed one person. 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) that took over the probe into the case arrested two key terror accused Abdul Matheen Taaha and Mussavir Hussain Shazib, both hailing from Thirthahalli, from the outskirts of Kolkata in April. CCTV footage from the restaurant and its surroundings confirmed that Shazib was the one who planted the IED. 

With the arrest of the duo, on the run from 2020, the notorious Thirthahalli terror module is said to have been neutralised. The duo came on the radar of security agencies in January 2020, when the state police busted the Al Hind module where a group of Muslim radicals from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were allegedly trying to establish a Islamic State-like insurgency. While the rest were arrested, Taaha and Shazib absconded and allegedly put together a module with other radicalized youths in Thirthahalli. This module was allegedly involved in a terror graffiti case in Mangaluru, a trial blast case in Shivamogga and a failed cooker blast attack in Mangaluru in 2022.

Darshan arrested for gruesome murder of his fan

The case that hogged the most attention in 2024 was the murder of Renukaswamy in June. An unidentified body was found in a drain in Kamakshipalya, and a day later four people turned up at the police station confessing to the murder. However, their interrogation led the police to the doors of Kannada film actor Darshan and his partner Pavitra Gowda. A sordid tale of online sexual harassment, abduction, torture, murder and a coverup unravelled.

Renukaswamy had allegedly been sending lewd messages and explicit videos to Pavitra Gowda on Instagram. Angered by this, Darshan allegedly got him abducted from Chitradurga, got him to a shed in Pattanagere and allegedly beat him up which eventually killed him. A total of 17 accused were arrested and chargesheeted in the case.

Darshan was granted interim bail for six weeks in October on medical grounds. Before the six weeks ended, he was granted bail by the High Court on December 13.

Three gruesome murders

Three cases where working women were killed by their male friends underscored the vulnerabilities faced by women in the city. 

In a particularly gruesome case, a woman’s highly decomposed body chopped into 52 pieces was found stuffed in a refrigerator in Vyalikawal in September. The deceased Mahalakshmi, 29, from a migrant family from Nepal, was working at a mall and one of her colleagues turned out to be her killer. Before the police could reach him, Mukti Ranjan Roy, ended his life in Odisha. In a similar vein, a vlogger from Assam Maya Gogoi, 19, was found dead at a service apartment in Indiranagar where she checked into with her male friend in November. Police arrested the accused Aarav Hanoi, 22, whom she met online through a dating app. 

Earlier in July, Kruti Kumari, 24, hailing from Bihar was stabbed to death at a PG accommodation in Koramangala by a man who barged into the facility. The accused Abhishekh Ghosi, 23, from Madhya Pradesh, was upset over Kruti Kumari’s roommate who had broken up with him. He reportedly came to attack his former girlfriend and attacked Kruti Kumari instead when he did not find her. Police arrested the accused from Madhya Pradesh and have even chargesheeted the case.

Published – December 28, 2024 06:00 am IST