Sampath, also known by the alias Shambhu and a resident of Kodagu, was discovered dead in Sakleshpura taluk, Hassan district. Police suspect he was killed and his corpse was transported in a vehicle before being abandoned in a wooded area near Kallahalli. The accused then fled, leaving the blood-smeared vehicle behind.

The vehicle was found on April 10 near Kallahalli village, close to Mageri in Yeslur hobli. Locals were alerted after a driver, ferrying plantation workers, spotted the suspiciously stained car and informed nearby villagers. The villagers in turn contacted the Yeslur police.

Police teams, including a circle inspector, sub-inspector, canine squad, and fingerprint analysts, thoroughly examined the crime scene. Investigations revealed that the car, borrowed by Sampath on April 9 from a businessman friend in Kushalnagar, was the same one recovered near Kallahalli.

Sampath’s phone had been switched off since he took the car, and he had gone untraceable. Authorities retrieved his call records and questioned people connected to his earlier disputes, but initial leads yielded no results. Meanwhile, a missing person report was lodged at the Kushalnagar police station.

After a four-day intensive search by the Yeslur police, Sampath’s remains were found. Authorities believe he was murdered at a different location and his body discarded in the dense Malnad region. The remains have been sent to the district hospital in Kodagu for postmortem.

The murder case is now being handed over to the Kodagu police for further investigation.