The 52-year-old owner of AKMS Transport, Saifuddin, who was an accused in two murders and 16 other criminal cases, was hacked to death in his house at Kodavoor in Udupi city on Saturday morning.
Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar said three teams have been formed to trace the assailants.
In a statement, the police said Saifuddin left his house in Coin Circle in Manipal to his other house at Kodavoor at around 10 a.m. Faizal Khan, an employee of AKMS transport and close confidante of Saifuddin, accompanied Saifuddin in the car.
Soon after Saifuddin entered his house at Kodavoor, Faizal Khan followed him along with two more AKMS (which operated private buses) employees, including one Sharief. All the three hacked Saifuddin to death and left the place in a car, the police statement said.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that Sharief and another assailant were among five accused persons, including Saifuddin, who were booked in connection with the murder of bar owner Vashist Satyanarayana Yadav in Malpe on February 13, 2020.
The two assailants appeared to be unhappy with Saifuddin for his failure to provide necessary financial support to them and their family members when they were in judicial custody following their arrest in Vashist’s murder, said the police.
Mr. Shankar said the findings of the preliminary investigation will be verified after securing the assailants.
On a complaint by a family member of Saifuddin, the Malpe police registered a case under Sections 103 and 3 (5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Published – September 27, 2025 07:49 pm IST
