Bangalore: A 35-year-old techie, who was found dead in his apartment in Bengaluru on August 5, was allegedly murdered by a man who wanted to buy the techie’s bike, after seeing an ad on Facebook. The techie reportedly died on August 3 but the incident came to light only two days later. A casual post in the facebook group offering to sell his high-end bike proved deadly for this techie.

According to the reports, the deceased techie identified as Sohan Haldar hails from West Bengal and lived in a 4 BHK flat in Prestige Shantiniketan along with three other techies from Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai and Chennai who identified him dead in his bedroom.

The Kadugodi police have arrested Karthik, a 30-year-old habitual offender. They suspect that Karthik force-fed cyanide to Sohan with the intention of stealing his bike.

According to the police, Sohan Haldar (35) wanted to sell his motorcycle, worth a little over a lakh. He had uploaded the details on a website. Karthik contacted Sohan on August 1 posing as a buyer.

“Two days later, Karthik called Sohan saying he wanted to meet to finalise the deal. This call was made to ensure Sohan was at home,” a senior police officer said.

That night, Karthik went to Sohan’s apartment and the two spent some time in the conversation about the bike. And next Karthik offered a cigar as a friend, while Sohan was smoking, Karthik allegedly thrust cyanide powder in his mouth. “He then wrapped a bed sheet around the victim’s head to make sure that he was dead,” said the police.

Sohan took the bike keys and helmet, along with a debit card. Sohan had written the password on the card.

Karthik swiped the card twice and withdrew Rs. 27,000. He tried to sell the bike for Rs 1.1 lakh, but police caught up with him before he succeeded.

An officer said, “From CCTV footage and the statement of the security guard, we had learnt that he was the last person to leave Sohan’s house,” said the police.

After Investigation:

According to the police, Karthik is the son of a retired bank employee. He is an engineering graduate but is unemployed. He was involved in several criminal cases in the last two years. “He had attempted to rob a bank in Rajaji Nagar and a gold shop in Malleswaram,” a police source said.