Solving Crime | When a passenger turned killer: How Karnataka Police cracked a cabbie’s murder

On January 30, 2021, Koratagere police inspector Fakrusab K Nadaf responded to a reported fatal road accident on Koratagere-Madhugiri Road, located about 90 km from Bengaluru. Initially thought to be an accident, Nadaf soon realized it was a murder. By 6.15 am, he arrived at the scene and discovered that the driver had died from internal bleeding due to multiple stab wounds.

Nadaf cordoned off the area and collected forensic evidence. A mobile phone found near the driver's seat led police to the victim's wife, Ayisha. Ayisha confirmed that the victim was her husband, Nisar Ahmed, a cab driver. Nadaf and his team questioned family members, and a friend of Nisar's named Mohammed Asif provided crucial information about a suspicious passenger who had boarded Nisar's cab the night before.

CCTV footage confirmed that a man, identified as Veerendra P, had boarded the cab at around 8:30 pm. The cab's route and the suspect's location both led to Gopanahalli village in Challakere taluk of Chitradurga district, where Veerendra was apprehended on February 4, 2021. Nadaf noted that Veerendra, who had failed Class 12, was working odd jobs in Bengaluru and sought money for his sister's marriage.

He purchased a knife and a bag to commit the murder, then hid the bloodstained clothes in a nearby bush. The police also found the murder weapon in the vehicle. A judge ultimately sentenced Veerendra to life imprisonment on August 3, 2021, based on digital evidence, the suspect's statements, and eyewitness accounts.