Belagavi (Karnataka), Oct 20 (IANS) Karnataka Police have cracked the murder case of a college-going woman three years after she went missing and arrested her husband, two brothers and their associates in Belagavi district, said officials on Friday.

The investigation showed that the woman's husband, who had filed a missing complaint and posed as an innocent, was the prime accused in the case.

The arrested accused were identified as Vittal Laxmana Bangi, husband of the victim, her brothers Lakkappa Kambali, Siddagonda Kambali, and Basavaraj Kabbure and Ashok Mokashi, friends of the main accused Bangi.

According to police, 32-year-old Shivaleela Vittala Bangi was killed in January, 2020. She was studying at a private college in Rayabagh, and her husband and own brothers suspected her character.

Shivaleela was strangled to death by the accused and later the body was transported in a car to a forest land near Hirebudanuru village in Savadatti taluk.

The accused then returned and took to their normal activities. However, when people started questioning about the victim, accused brother Lakkappa Kambali lodged a missing complaint with the Mudalagi police station on March 26, 2023.

The police began the investigation when they heard about the rumour of the victim Shivaleela being killed by her own family. The police took statements from the family members and when the statements did not match, they grilled accused brother Lakkappa Kambali who confessed to the crime.

The police recovered a skull from the spot in the forest area where the victim’s body was dumped. It was sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to ascertain the identity. Further investigation is on.