BELAGAVI — Belagavi Police arrested six individuals, including a Bengaluru woman and her driver, for allegedly drugging and strangling her son after he repeatedly objected to their relationship.
Police recovered the body of 32-year-old Vijay Narayan from an isolated stretch beside a highway in Belagavi district on November 1, coinciding with Karnataka Rajyotsava Day. Narayan, a resident of RT Nagar in Bengaluru, had vanished days earlier after travelling north under the belief that he was attending regional cultural festivities. Investigators subsequently established that his mother, Meena Narayan, conspired with her driver and four accomplices to eliminate him. The scheme took weeks to assemble. The motive was direct. He refused to tolerate the relationship.
Police stated that Meena, who worked as a manager at a Bengaluru beauty parlour, hired Rakesh Jamuni—a native of Gadhinglaj in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district—as her personal driver. A relationship developed between the two, which Narayan discovered and sharply confronted. Heated domestic arguments followed. Narayan demanded an immediate end to the partnership. Meena and Jamuni viewed his presence as an intractable hurdle.
To execute the plot, Jamuni lured Narayan from Bengaluru to Belagavi on the pretext of witnessing the annual Karnataka Rajyotsava celebrations. Jamuni enlisted four friends from his regional network—identified by police as Sachin, Manoj, Tammanna, and Eknath—to assist in the ambush.
Once in Belagavi, the conspirators spiked a cold drink bottle with sleeping medication and handed it to Narayan. The sedative took hold quickly. As Narayan grew drowsy inside the vehicle, the group wrapped a shawl tightly around his neck and strangled him. They drove to a desolate highway shoulder, dumped the body into the brush, and fled.
But the digital trail remained intact. Investigators scrutinized Narayan's mobile phone call detail records, mapping out his final movements and tracing repeated exchanges back to Jamuni and Meena. The cross-referenced tower data dismantled their cover story within hours.
Accused number one is Rakesh Jamuni, who is from Gadhinglaj, Kolhapur. They had an illicit relationship. Because of this illicit relationship, the victim was troubling her and creating a nuisance, and he used to fight with the mother, telling her not to do this. So, because of that, the mother and accused number one conspired to have a phone conversation with him and finish him off.
Prakash Nikam, Belagavi Police Commissioner
Nikam detailed the mechanical precision of the crime during an official press briefing.
After that, accused number one brought him from Bangalore to Belagavi. After bringing him to Belagavi, they gave him a sleeping medicine in a cold drink bottle. After he became a little drowsy, they used a shawl to strangle him. After strangling him, they threw the body at a desolate place near the highway.
Prakash Nikam, Belagavi Police Commissioner
Police took all six suspects into custody across coordinated raids spanning Karnataka and Maharashtra border pockets. Officers impounded electronic devices and physical materials used during the commission of the offence for forensic analysis.
| Case Parameter | Official Status |
|---|---|
| Primary Victim | Vijay Narayan (Resident, RT Nagar, Bengaluru) |
| Primary Accused (A1 & A2) | Rakesh Jamuni (Gadhinglaj, Kolhapur) & Meena Narayan (Bengaluru) |
| Named Co-Conspirators | Sachin, Manoj, Tammanna, and Eknath |
| Crime Location | Highway corridor, Belagavi District |
| Discovery Date | November 1 (Karnataka Rajyotsava Day) |
| Detection Method | Mobile Call Detail Records (CDR) & Tower Triangulation |
Belagavi Police confirmed that all six accused face formal charges covering murder, criminal conspiracy, and destruction of evidence, with investigators scheduled to present the group before a local magistrate to secure extended police custody.
| Custodial Status | All six suspects arrested; produced for remand |