Karnataka Police have arrested a 24-year-old man for stabbing a woman to death at her house in Veerapur Oni area of Hubballi district on May 15. The accused has been identified as Vishwa, also known as Girish, who is an autorickshaw driver.

The deceased, Anjali Ambigera, worked at a local canteen and lived with her sister and grandmother following the death of her parents. She had repeatedly rejected Girish's romantic advances and his requests for her to travel with him to Mysuru. After Anjali turned down all his proposals, Girish allegedly threatened to kill her in the same manner as Neha Hiremath, who was murdered in Hubballi on April 18.

According to the police, Preliminary investigations revealed that Vishwa targeted gullible young women, enacting a drama of love and playing the emotional card to forcefully extort gold, silver, and cash from them. When Anjali did not agree to any of his attempts to rob her and outrightly rejected his offer to go with him to Mysuru city, he brutally killed her.

The police had formed two teams to hunt down the killer. One of the teams was searching in the south Karnataka region, and another team, which launched a hunt in Davanagere, nabbed him. The accused was arrested by the police on May 16, Thursday. The police could not catch him sooner as he did not carry a mobile phone and did not use his phone for 15 days, before murdering Anjali. The jurisdictional Bendigeri Police were aware of the killer's history, but even after the complaint by the girl’s family, they showed "utter negligence".

According to media reports, Anjali and her grandmother had previously complained to the police about Girish's persistent harassment, but no action was taken. Girish, a serial offender with multiple theft charges, absconded after the murder.

(With inputs from IANS)