By IANS,
Bangalore : A friend of Karnataka legislator K. Raghupathy Bhat was Monday arrested in connection with the death of Bhat’s wife Padmapriya in Delhi June 15.
Atul Rao was arrested in Manipal, near Udupi, which Bhat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) represents in the state assembly. Rao will be presented before a court in Udupi Tuesday, the police said.
The 33-year-old Padmapriya, mother of two children, was found hanging in Shama Apartments in Dwaraka in Delhi June 15, five days after she went missing from Udupi.
Rao is a contractor and a childhood friend of Bhat. He was also helping Bhat in running his finance firm.
Bhat filed a complaint with the police June 19 accusing Rao of coercing Padmapriya to go to Delhi.
The Karnataka police traced Padmapriya to Delhi with the help Rao, but when they reached the apartment in Dwaraka her body was found hanging from a ceiling fan.
The police had let off Rao June 19. His wife Meera had filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court but withdrew it June 18 after learning he was with the police and safe.
Padmapriya is reported to have left her house in Udupi June 11 to go her parents’ house about 30 km away. She did not reach the place. Neither Bhat nor her parents filed a missing complaint with the police till June 13.
On that day, the police found an abandoned car about 10 km away from Udupi, learnt that it belonged to Bhat and began the search for Padmapriya. Broken bangles, a SIM card and cash found in the car added to the mystery.
The police learnt from Rao that he and Padmapriya went to Goa and then took a flight to Delhi where an apartment had been taken in May on rent.