In 2001, Vishwanath Shetty allegedly murdered his business partner Vishwanath Rai in Mangalore
Despite strong evidence, he remained untraceable until a new IPS officer reopened the case years later
Tracking this phone revealed Shetty’s whereabouts under a new identity
A man killed his business partner and then disappeared. An FIR was filed, but he remained untraceable. The case soon turned cold, with the file gathering dust in the police station. This chilling story from Karnataka was solved many years after the actual crime. In a podcast with Divay Agarwal—entrepreneur turned storyteller—titled Khooni Monday, Aryaan Misra from the DesiCrime podcast recounted the case.
In Mangalore, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, a financial firm, Shiva Finance, was run by two men, both named Vishwanath. Vishwanath Rai was the owner, and Vishwanath Shetty worked as a manager in the brokerage and investment business. Over time, a serious feud developed between the two business partners.
On June 7, 2001, the feud reached a deadly climax. Vishwanath Shetty allegedly murdered Vishwanath Rai at a house near Gandhi Park in Uppinangady. After the killing, he dumped the body near Honnavar and disappeared. Police have a witness testimony, and all the evidence pointed to Shetty, but the police could not track him down. Rumors circulated that he had fled to Dubai or committed suicide, but no concrete leads emerged. His family never filed a missing person report, and the case went cold, gathering dust in the files of the Puttur police station.
More than a decade later, a new IPS officer took charge of the police station. Bringing fresh ideas and perspectives, he decided to review old, unsolved cases. One officer, going through the files, came across the case “Vishwanath vs. Vishwanath” and noticed that the suspect, Shetty, had vanished years ago.
Investigators learned that Shetty’s wife worked in the court canteen and that his son had become a talented cricketer, playing in state and town-level matches. Interestingly, one of the police officers also played on the same cricket team. He was tasked with observing the young player’s behavior closely.
During one cricket match, the player scored several runs and returned to the pavilion. The officer noticed something unusual: the young cricketer had two phones. One was known, but the second phone started ringing unexpectedly. Tracking this secret phone, the police discovered that it regularly called a single other number once a week or once every two months and had a long call.
Following this lead, they found that Vishwanath Shetty had been living under a new identity in Bhawani, Tamil Nadu. For the past 10–12 years, he had been running a brokerage business called Raj Finance and Chit Fund, earning the nickname “Raju Tambi.” He had also been sending money to his family.
Acting on this intelligence, the sleuths from the District Crime Intelligence Bureau (DCIB) and Uppinangady police traveled to Bhawani, Tamil Nadu, and arrested 50-year-old Kodymbady Vishwanath Shetty. Surprisingly, when confronted, Shetty offered no resistance and immediately admitted to his crime. The investigation then revealed the full extent of his life in hiding and the family’s involvement in keeping his whereabouts secret.
Superintendent of Police Dr. Sharanappa briefed the media, confirming that the murder occurred over a financial dispute between the two friends, and that Shetty had destroyed evidence after the crime. For 13 years, the case remained unsolved, until a cricket game finally brought justice. [Rh/VP]
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