In 2014, a murder shocked Banaswadi in Bengaluru. Mary Lucas, a 68-year-old woman from Kerala who had been running a paying guest (PG) business in the city for more than 25 years, was found dead in her house. With no clues and mounting political pressure to solve the case, the local police struggled—until an arrest in another case provided a vital lead that turned the investigation around.
Lucas hailed from Kerala but had been staying in Bengaluru for more than three decades. She ran a popular PG business named ‘Homely Home’ in Kacharakanahalli. Known as a strong-willed woman, Lucas was regarded as a leader in her neighbourhood. She had two sons: Jijin Lucas, who ran a BPO centre at HBR Layout, and Stinoj Lucas, who was working in Chennai at the time.
On April 29, 2014, at around 3 pm, Lucas came out of the house, spoke to a neighbour, and returned home. It was the last time she was seen alive. By 4 pm, when Lucas did not answer her phone calls, Stinoj called Jijin to check. Within 10 minutes, Jijin reached home to find his mother’s dead body.
According to court documents, the entrance door showed traces of damage. Jijin reportedly also discovered that the house was ransacked. Lucas’s hands and mouth were bound with brown tape, and her mouth was gagged with cloth pieces and secured with the same tape. A gold chain and two bangles she had been wearing were found missing.
A panicked Jijin immediately informed the Banaswadi police station. “I was at the station and we immediately rushed to the spot. There were a lot of home-alone murders at the time in Bengaluru, and it was clear that the motive was robbery,” Mohan Kumar B S, then a police inspector at Banaswadi police station, said.
On the day of the murder, five occupants were staying at the PG, but none were present at the time of the incident. A police officer recalled that the last occupant had left around 2 pm. “We brought the five occupants in for questioning. After questioning them for a few hours, it became clear that they had no role in it,” the officer added.
Meanwhile, forensic science laboratory officials, the dog squad and other officials collected evidence from the crime scene. “There were no CCTV cameras at PGs or that stretch of the road. We checked the family background to see if there were any disputes, but there were none,” the officer recalled.
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Then Banaswadi police inspector Mohan Kumar BS currently posted as Dy SP at Bengaluru rural district. (Express Photo)
Amid no leads, mounting pressure
Days, weeks, and months passed without any leads. The police began examining murders of women who were home alone, as well as killings of elderly women that had occurred before and after Lucas’s death. “There were no traces of mobile phone usage or anything. At that point, there were about 20-22 such murders in and around Bengaluru. With no leads, we started to study the patterns of these crimes, but it did not take us anywhere,” said Kumar.
Meanwhile, pressure was mounting on the investigators. “Lucas’s friends and family members were connected to political leaders in Kerala. One of her neighbours, Alex Tuskan, was a social worker with strong connections. Then Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy was also a friend of then state home minister K J George,” the officer said.
The investigating team began receiving calls from senior police officers urging them to solve the case. “At one point, the pressure escalated to such an extent that the then additional commissioner of police suggested handing the case over to the Criminal Investigation Department, a special unit of the Karnataka Police, or even filing a closure report,” he added.
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Kumar had deputed two police sub-inspectors, Ramamurthy and Mirza Ali Razzaq, on the case. “Though there were no clues, we did not want to give up. Every home-alone murder case was studied. We even tried to get information from undertrials and other informants. But to no avail,” Kumar said.
The tape that turned the case around
On February 10, 2015, a murder was reported within the jurisdiction of the Varthur police station. Manjulamma, a 65‑year‑old homemaker, was murdered at her residence, and jewellery worth ₹10 lakh was stolen. Her mouth, hands, and legs had been taped. While studying the murder patterns, Mirza visited the Varthur police station and observed that the brown tape used in this case was similar to the one found in Lucas’s killing.
The Varthur police solved Manjulamma’s murder as the accused had taken away a mobile phone. On February 26, 2015, then police inspector D Kumar arrested J Setu, 24, Prabhu, 23, Nanda Kumar, 21, and Ajith Kumar, 20, based on the location of the stolen mobile phone.
It was then that the Banaswadi police decided to question the accused. “Though we did not suspect any of the accused to be involved in Lucas’s murder, we hoped we might get a lead. We decided to question the accused simultaneously, in different rooms. As the interrogation continued, one of the questions was about the use of tape to bind the victims’ hands and legs. Everyone indicated that it was Prabhu’s idea to prevent them from screaming and shouting. But when asked about their involvement in Lucas’s murder, all of them denied it,” the officer said.
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Prabhu was taken into custody by the Banaswadi police. His fingerprints indicated a link to Lucas’s murder. During interrogation, Prabhu allegedly confessed to the crime and revealed that it was a different gang from Tamil Nadu that killed Lucas.
With Prabhu spilling the names of his associates, Viji, 23, and Thangaraju, 20, from Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri district, were arrested.
According to Kumar, one of the greatest successes for the investigation team was recovering Lucas’s gold ornaments that had been pledged at two jewellery shops in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu—Ganesh Jewellers and Girish Jewellers. “The ornaments were the same, with no change. The description by Lucas’s children matched them,” Kumar said.
The police said that it was Viji’s plan to murder Lucas. He did not know her well, but as he was in the waste paper business, he had collected papers from her in the past. He had noticed her gold ornaments. During one of his drinking parties with his friends, they allegedly decided to make quick money. It was Viji who allegedly pitched the idea to kill Lucas and escape with her valuables.
Sentenced to life imprisonment
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The Banaswadi police arrested the accused on March 28, 2015, nearly a year after Lucas’s murder. The police filed a chargesheet and the accused were charged under sections 302 (murder) and 394 (voluntarily causing hurt during the commission of or attempt to commit robbery) of the Indian Penal Code. The accused were later released on bail.
The prosecution examined 15 witnesses and submitted 25 documents, including medical reports. On November 4 this year, the 59th additional city civil and sessions court convicted all three accused to life imprisonment.
In his 49-page judgment, Judge Balachandra N Bhat said, “The modus operandi of the accused was traced in another case and the investigating officer cannot be doubted although there may be shortcomings.”
Kumar, who is now a deputy superintendent of police in Bengaluru rural district, says it was one of the most challenging cases in his career. “There was no relationship or even acquaintance between the accused and the victim. They just visited her house for 15 minutes or so and vanished to Tamil Nadu. No mobile phones were used, nor was any evidence left behind. I am relieved that Mary’s family has got justice,” he added.
