Days after a Bengaluru-based man had gone missing along with his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter and later, the toddler’s body was found in Kolar district , the man was arrested here, said police on Thursday
The accused, who was on run, had boarded a train in Delhi and was heading towards Bengaluru on the Karnataka Express when the police intercepted and arrested him on Wednesday. “He was on the run and the police were monitoring all his movements. He had travelled from Bangarpete in Karnataka to Vellore in Tamil Nadu, then to Andhra Pradesh, Agra and Delhi,” Devaraj said.
While the toddler, identified as Jiya Parmar, was found dead in a lake in Kolar district on November 16, search was on to trace the father.
Kolar superintendent of police (SP) PD Devaraj said that accused has confessed to the murder.
“He confessed that he smothered the child by pressing her to his chest. He then tried to drown himself in the lake along with the child but failed as the water was not deep enough. After that, he sent the location of the lake to his wife and left,” the SP said. He also tried killing himself on a railway track and failed, after which he was on the run, said the SP.
On November 15, Parmar had informed his wife that he will drop their daughter at the pre-school. However, after the duo did not return home, his wife went to the school where she got to know that he never dropped the child there. The wife had lodged a missing persons complaint at the Bagalur police station.
The police said that the accused who had lost his job six months ago, had borrowed money from at least five places and was in debt, which drove him to kill his daughter.
“He had debts at five places. He had borrowed money from several banks and had not paid the house rent for three months,” Devaraj said.
The police said that while the accused had an extravagant lifestyle, his salary was about ₹25,000 per month. “He had completed a course and was going around telling everyone that he is an engineer. He was working at a private firm in Bengaluru. His lifestyle has landed him in trouble,” Devaraj said.
Earlier, Parmar had filed a case of jewellery theft at his house, following which he was summoned for an inquiry, Bagalur police said. Later, it was found that Parmar himself had mortgaged the jewellery at a pawn shop, police said.
“The accused was the one who had mortgaged the gold with a firm in Bengaluru. On the day he disappeared along with the child, recovery agents from one of the banks had also called him. The police had also called him to the station regarding the mortgage case,” Devaraj said.
During probe, Parmar told the police that his wife was not taking good care of the child and he didn’t want her to suffer after he dies. “He didn’t want the child to suffer if he killed himself. This seems to be true as there is no other reason to kill the child. He said he was the one who was taking care of the house and the child. He would bathe, feed and take her to school every day,” Devaraj said.
The police have registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Kolar rural police station.
