Most Shocking Crimes: Umesh Reddy, a serial killer and rapist, terrified Karnataka’s capital city Bengaluru and other places during the late 1990s and early 2000s with his heinous acts against women. Reddy was part of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), but was dismissed from service following a molestation case in 1997.


From teenage girls to married women, Reddy spared none in his brutal spree. Convicted in nine case, he reportedly confessed to the rape and murder of 18 women. According to an Indian Express report, many of his victims were homemakers targeted between 11 am and 3 pm, after their husbands left for work.


Besides Karnataka, where he found most of his victims, Reddy is believed to have raped, robbed and killed women in Gujarat and Maharashtra, reported The Week. 


Murders and rapes, however, were not the only reasons that mounted pressures on the police. He also escaped custody more than once, before his final arrest in 2002.


Reddy is currently lodged in Bengaluru Central Jail. He was shifted there last year after the Supreme Court, in 2022, commuted his death sentence to a 30-year-prison term.


Early Life And Background


Reddy was born to a poor family in 1973 in the village of Basappa Malige, also called Kashipura, in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district. He has three brothers and an elder sister.


The region where the Reddys lived lacked water resources, due to which the family had a hard time making money despite owning about 15 acres of agricultural land, according to an Indian Express report.


During his school days, Reddy allegedly developed a habit of stealing books and stationery items. As he grew up, he began to steal goats and sheep from the village, which he sold to make quick money.


First Taste Of Crime


In 1994, Reddy joined the CRPF. After training, he was deputed as a guard at the house of a commandant. According to the IE report, during his time as a guard, he tried to rape the daughter of the commandant but she managed to escape.


Reddy subsequently fled and returned to Chitradurga town, where he managed to get selected as a constable in the District Armed Reserve (DAR) of the Karnataka Police Service in 1996.


Modus Operandi  


The convicted murderer preyed on homemakers who were alone at home. He used to gain entry into their homes on the pretext of asking for water or directions.


He would then whip out a knife and ask his victims to remove their clothes. They would then be tied up and choked – and sexually assaulted while unconscious. Reddy then killed the women. Before leaving, he would remove the victims’ jewellery to make it appear like a robbery.


Crime Trail


Reddy’s killing spree is believed to have begun in November 1996, when he allegedly tried to rape a high school student in Chitradurga. The girl somehow managed to escape but did not file a complaint. A month later, he allegedly raped and murdered another teenage girl in Chitradurga.


When the case remained unsolved for over a month, it was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The CID then traced the high school student who was attacked by Reddy.


According to media reports, in January 1997, the high school student identified him at a Republic Day police parade. He was arrested immediately and dismissed from service. Within a few days of his arrest, however, Reddy was out on bail due to lack of evidence. 


In June 1997, he was caught by the public for stealing valuables in Bengaluru’s Hulimavu, the Indian Express reported, citing police records. He was taken into custody by the Mico Layout police, but he claimed to be innocent and said his name was Ramesh.


Retired police officer S. K. Umesh, who was associated with the investigation, told the Indian Express, “The police team that visited his house was in for a rude shock. Among the several valuables found in his residence, there were about two bags of women’s undergarments.”


The police also recorded his statement pertaining to where he stole the valuables from.


While he was being taken to places from where he stole the valuables, Reddy escaped from police custody under the pretext of attending nature’s call, the Indian Express report noted.


In another instance, Reddy fled from police custody while being shifted from Chitradurga to Bellary.


After his escape, Reddy killed an income tax officer’s wife in Bengaluru, a girl in Ahmedabad, two girls in Vadodara, and a woman in Kunigal town of Tumakuru district in Karnataka, Hindustan Times reported, citing police records.


In 1998, Reddy targeted a 37-year-old woman and raped and murdered her in her house in Peenya. He did not stop there, and soon after that, attempted to rape a woman in the same locality. However, she raised the alarm, and he was forced to escape by jumping off the first floor of the house, as reported by Hindustan Times.


Reddy sustained injuries to his ankle due to the jump, and was caught by residents and handed over to the police, HT reported.


During investigations, weird details pertaining to his habits emerged. Among other things, it was discovered that Reddy had a habit of stealing the clothes of the women he targeted.


According to the HT report, in 2002, when police caught Reddy in Bengaluru, he was found wearing lingerie. When the police checked his bags, they found several articles of women’s clothing.


Auto Driver’s Tip-Off


Reddy’s killing spree finally came to an end in 2002, nearly two months after his last escape. It all started with a tip-off received by Yeswanthpur police inspector Nagaraj Urs from Shaktivel, an autorickshaw driver.


“The autorickshaw driver came to me directly and said Umesh Reddy was getting a haircut at a salon right opposite the police station,” the police inspector said, as quoted by the IE. “By the time a team reached the salon, he had left. We arrested him as soon as he walked towards the railway track,” the official said.


The autorickshaw driver was rewarded by the then city police commissioner, H. T. Sangliana, with a cheque of Rs 20,000 for providing the information and helping the police nab Reddy. S.K. Umesh said many women who made theft complaints were subjected to sexual assault.


“Many women who made theft complaints were subjected to sexual assault, but they did not want to report it, fearing stigma. Some were young women, and others were married or had small children. Some of them continue to live in trauma,” he said, as quoted by the Indian Express.


Convictions


At the time of his final arrest, there were 19 cases against him.


According to media reports, these included four each in Chitradurga and Peenya, two each in Mico Layout and Gujarat’s Baroda, and one each in Bellary, Kunigal, Yeshwanthpur, Jalahalli and Hiriyur.


Reddy was eventually convicted in nine cases, which included the rape-murder of a widow, Jayashree Maradi. In 2006, a fast-track court set up by the Bengaluru sessions court awarded him the death penalty in the Maradi case, the New Indian Express reported. Maradi’s seven-year-old son was a witness in the case.


After the Karnataka High Court upheld the death sentence, Reddy filed a mercy petition before the President in 2012.


SC Commutes His Death Sentence


In November 2022, the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence to 30 years’ imprisonment, as reported by Hindustan Times. This was reportedly done because the court said he had been unlawfully placed in solitary confinement for 10 years. In 2011, the court had upheld his death sentence.


In June 2023, Umesh Reddy was moved to Bengaluru Central Prison. In February 2024, the Karnataka High Court turned down Reddy’s plea seeking parole.


The order was passed by Justice M. Nagaprasanna while dismissing a petition filed by Reddy questioning the rejection of his plea by the prison authorities. He had sought parole for 30 days “to be with his 84-year-old ailing mother and to undertake repair of her house”, The Hindu reported.