BENGALURU – A Bengaluru Sessions Court has rejected the anticipatory bail application of 22-year-old K.N. Punith Kumar, accused of being part of a gang that brutally murdered a youth and attempted to dispose of the body on railway tracks to stage a suicide.

The order, passed on June 28, 2022, by the LV Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge, Sri Shriram Narayan Hegde, emphasized the “gravity of the offence” and the “initial stage of investigation” as primary reasons for denying relief to the accused.

The Midnight Murder at Kengeri Station

The case dates back to the intervening night of April 23 and 24, 2022. According to the prosecution, a Home Guard named Prasanna was on duty at the Kengeri Railway Station when the Station Master alerted him to a suspected suicide victim lying on the tracks.

While returning from inspecting that scene, the Home Guard witnessed a horrifying sight: a group of 10 to 15 youths were dragging a person and assaulting him near the tracks. When the Home Guard flashed his torch toward the group, they abandoned the victim and fled into the darkness.

The victim, later identified as 24-year-old Bharath—a sales manager and graduation student preparing for competitive exams—was found in a pool of blood. He had been stabbed over 15 times in the chest and stomach. Investigations revealed that the murder was triggered by a road rage incident earlier that night during a local Karaga procession, where a bike brushed against Bharath. When he asked the riders to go carefully, they returned with a gang to exact “revenge.”

Legal Battle for Anticipatory Bail

K.N. Punith Kumar, arrayed as Accused No. 8, moved the court seeking protection from arrest under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.). His counsel argued that Punith was an “innocent person” with no specific overt acts attributed to him in the records. The defense contended that the Home Guard had not seen the faces of the assailants clearly and that Punith’s name was included merely on “assumption” and “whims and fancies” of the police.

However, the Public Prosecutor strongly opposed the plea, presenting a detailed police report. The State argued that the murder was a premeditated act of extreme violence and that releasing Punith Kumar at this stage would allow him to “tamper with prosecution witnesses” and “flee from justice.”

Why the Court Said “No”

Judge Shriram Narayan Hegde applied a six-point legal test for granting bail, evaluating the nature of the charge, the evidence, the severity of the punishment, and the antecedents of the applicant.

The court noted that the charges against the accused—Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 302 (murder), and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence)—carry the highest penalties in Indian law, including life imprisonment or death.

“The investigation is in the initial stage. The statement of several witnesses is required to be recorded and the report of the FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) is to be obtained,” the Judge observed. The court found a “prima facie case” against the petitioner and highlighted the risk that the accused might threaten witnesses or abscond if enlarged on bail.

Implications for the Case

With the rejection of his anticipatory bail, Punith Kumar remains vulnerable to arrest by the SBI Railway Police, who are continuing their probe into the gang’s activities. The case has already seen several arrests, with police identifying the murder as a mix of road rage and pre-existing enmity between rival groups in the Kengeri area.

The court’s decision reinforces a strict judicial stance on “revenge killings” and road rage violence, particularly cases where the accused attempt to mislead investigators by destroying evidence or staging crime scenes.

The operative portion of the order read: “Bail petition filed by the petitioner / accused No.8 under Section 438 of Cr.P.C. is hereby REJECTED.”