Bank manager from Padukone found smothered to death

Bangalore, September 26: A 56-year-old bank manager was strangled to death inside his residence in Jayanagar police limits. The victim Shankar Poojari seems to have been killed late on Saturday night, police said.

The incident came to light when a hotel employee visited his house around 5pm on Sunday. Shankar didn't cook at home and used to have his meals at the hotel.

The body was found in the passage near the bedroom. Police suspect it to be a murder connected with his job as Shankar did not have any valuables at home. The front door was half open, indicating that someone known to Shankar had entered the house, police said.

Hailing from Padukone in Dakshina Kannada, Shankar settled in Mumbai. He had come to the city just 18 months back. While his wife and daughter lived in Mumbai, Shankar was living alone in a two-bedroom rented house, located near Yedyur lake. He was the chief manager of a bank with its head office on MG Road.

Yogesh Kumar, a relative, informed that Shankar was a soft-spoken and god-fearing man. "I am sure that he had no enemies. Even at the workplace, colleagues say, he spoke less and was well-mannered,'' he said.

Shankar used to visit a nearby hotel regularly. "When at home, he used to have breakfast, lunch and dinner in the hotel, owned by his relative. The hotel staff was surprised to see that Shankar did not appear on Sunday," Yogesh said. In the evening, an employee visited his house around five. "The front door was half open. I called his name, but got no answer. Then I went inside and saw his body in the passage," said the employee to police.

TV Volume High

The neighbours said, ''The TV volume was very high in the night. He never had the habit of watching TV late in the night. We wondered why he had kept the volume so high. This was between 9pm and 11pm. We did not hear any other noise.''

Deputy Commissioner of police-South division Sonia Narang suspected that some known persons had committed the crime. "We are checking on his mobile calls and other details. The main door is intact and one room has been ransacked,'' she said.