An unidentified, burnt body found in a coffee plantation in Karnataka’s Kodagu district three weeks back has led police to a gruesome murder plot. Ramesh, a 54-year-old businessman, went missing weeks back. Police have now found that his wife Niharika, her lover Nikhil and another accused, Ankur, executed a grisly murder plot for the businessman’s money and travelled across state borders to dispose of the body. The three have been arrested.

A Body Is Found

On October 8, police found a charred body at a coffee plantation near Suntikoppa in Kodagu. When attempts to identify the body failed, police started scanning CCTV footage to check vehicles that passed through the area. A red Mercedes Benz caught their attention. This car was found to be registered under the name Ramesh, whose wife had recently registered a missing complaint. Police then contacted their counterparts in Telangana where the car was registered.

The Investigation

As the probe progressed, police suspected the role of Ramesh’s wife Niharika P (29). When she was taken into custody, she admitted to involvement in Ramesh’s murder and named her accomplices, Nikhil, a veterinary doctor, and Ankur. Police found that Niharika had a troubled childhood. Her father died when she was 16 and her mother remarried. She excelled in academics, completed her engineering and started working. She married early, became a mother and separated later. At some point, when she was in Haryana, she became involved in financial fraud and went to jail. She met Ankur in prison.

The Motive And The Murder

After coming out of jail, Niharika married Ramesh. This was his second marriage too. The businessman provided Niharika with a lavish lifestyle and she became used to it. At one point, she asked him for Rs 8 crore. Ramesh refused the massive demand, and this infuriated Niharika. She was in a relationship with Nikhil, and along with him and Ankur, she plotted Ramesh’s murder to access his wealth, police have found. The businessman was choked to death in Uppal, Hyderabad, on October 1. The accused returned to his place, took cash and drove to Bengaluru. After a fuel stop, they proceeded to Kodagu, more than 800 km away from Uppal. There they disposed of the body in a coffee estate. The body was covered with a blanket and set on fire. The three then returned to Hyderabad, and Niharika filed a missing report for Ramesh.

What Police Said

Kodagu police chief Ramarajan said this was a challenging case as “everything had been entirely destroyed”. “Prima facie, we determined that the body had been burned 3-4 days before the complaint was registered. Our crime team began investigating suspicious activities in the area. They discovered that on Saturday, a vehicle was moving suspiciously in the area between 12 am and 2 am We checked the CCTV footage, but because it was night, the images were unclear. So, we examined footage from 500 CCTV cameras up to Tumkur. With all the technical evidence, we were able to trace a vehicle from Telangana belonging to a businessman named Ramesh.”

“Based on our investigation, we have arrested several suspects, identified as Niharika, aged 29, and veterinary doctor Nikhil, aged 28. Niharika is the prime suspect; she allegedly murdered Ramesh, the owner of the car. Niharika, along with Nikhil and another accomplice, Ankur, together murdered him and disposed of the body,” he added.