Bengaluru, 22 Nov

A 24-year-old man was killed allegedly by his elder brother and two others inside a car, and his body was dumped along the Bannerghatta–Kaggalipura road here on the outskirts of the city, police said on Saturday.

The victim, Dhanraj, hailed from Aland taluk in Kalaburagi district, where he lived with his parents, police said.

The three accused - the victim's elder brother, Shivaraj, 28, his friends Sandeep, 24, and Prashant, 26, have been arrested in the case, police said.

According to police, Dhanraj was allegedly involved in thefts and frequently assaulted his parents after coming home drunk. Dhanraj often created a ruckus and had even attacked Shivraj when confronted about his behaviour.

Shivaraj, a cab driver residing in Bengaluru's HSR Layout area, allegedly decided to eliminate Dhanraj. He conspired with his friends — Sandeep and Prashant — both from Aland, to kill Dhanraj, a senior police officer said.

On 2 November, Shivaraj allegedly called Dhanraj from Kalaburagi on the pretext of arranging a job. After picking him up near Bannerghatta NICE Road junction, he, along with his accomplices, allegedly restrained him inside the car, he said.

While Dhanraj sat in the front seat using his phone, Sandeep and Prashant allegedly held his hands from behind as Shivaraj struck him on the neck with a machete, killing him on the spot, police said.

The trio then allegedly dumped the body in roadside bushes along the Bannerghatta–Kaggalipura stretch and later discarding the car mat and the machete near the Electronic City NICE Road junction to destroy evidence, they said.

The decomposed body was found on 6 November. As the identity was unclear, investigators initially suspected an unnatural death, the officer said.

However, CCTV footage from a nearby private company showed a car dumping the body, leading investigators to trace the vehicle number, he said.

Later, a case of murder was registered at Bannerghatta police station and after a thorough investigation, all three accused were traced and arrested, police added.