BENGALURU: A debt-ridden grocery shop owner allegedly stabbed his 60-year-old neighbour to death Wednesday after she caught him trying to steal gold ornaments from her Nelamangala home. The victim, R Shobha, was attacked in front of her husband, Ranganath, 70, who was in his wheelchair.Paralysed from the neck down for the past 14 years, Ranganath was helpless as the accused, N Shivakumar, attacked and killed his wife, Shobha.

After the brutal assault, Shivakumar snatched her mangalsutra (nuptial gold chain) and two gold bangles before fleeing the scene. The grisly crime came to light around 6pm when Purushottam, a physiotherapist who had been attending to Ranganath for the past decade, entered the house and found Shobha lying lifeless. Shocked and panicked, he immediately called police.When police arrived and began their investigation, Shivakumar was reportedly standing outside among the curious onlookers. He even approached a couple of officers, casually asking if they had any leads on the killer.“By then, one team had collected CCTV footage, which showed a man on a gearless scooter arriving at Shobha’s house in the afternoon. About 30 minutes later, he hurriedly rode away. On checking further, we identified him as Shivakumar, a local grocery shop owner living just a few houses away in the third lane,” a police officer said.Soon after, police reached Shivakumar’s house, where he had just finished dinner with his wife and minor daughter. “At first, he pleaded innocence, claiming he had never visited Shobha’s house. When we showed him the CCTV footage, he said he went only to ask if she needed any grocery items. But a deeper interrogation revealed the full truth,” the officer said.Shivakumar was arrested that night, and police recovered the stolen mangalsutra and bangles, which he had hidden inside his home. His wife was left in shock, struggling to come to terms with the fact that the man she had known for over a decade had killed a neighbour.Plot to repay Rs 8L debtShivakumar told police that he planned to steal gold from Shobha’s house to repay his debts of Rs 8 lakh. “I knew the couple for the last 10 years and knew that Shobha had plenty of gold ornaments. She came from a family of gold merchants and often wore different gold chains and bangles. She took her ailing husband for a sunbath every afternoon. At such times, Shobha did not lock the door. I noticed Shobha pushing the wheelchair outside the house and knowing they would not be back for at least one hour, I entered the house. But, they returned early and Shobha caught me while I was frisking the cupboards. Fearing she would call police and get me arrested, I pulled a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her in the neck,” he said. Ranganath and Shobha lived in Petebeedi lane since 2014, and the couple did not have children.