Netflix has been churning out spine-chilling true crime documentaries, and the latest in its fold is Indian Predator: Beast of Bangalore. The third installment in the 'Indian Predator' series arrives on December 16, Friday.
Beast of Bangalore is based on the crimes of Umesh Reddy, who raped and murdered several women in Karnataka in the 90s. What is ironic is that Umesh was a former cop. He confessed to raping and killing 18 women and was convicted in nine cases.
The Karnataka High Court sentenced Umesh to death in 2009, and the decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011. In 2022, however, his death sentence was commuted to a 30-year sentence following a mercy petition.
Crime timeline
Umesh is said to have raped, robbed and murdered women in Gujarat and Maharashtra as well, but the majority of his victims were from Karnataka. Born in 1969 in Karnataka's Chitradurga district, Umesh was selected in the CRPF and was posted in Kashmir in 1996, according to reports. His criminal trail started there when he attempted to rape a commandant's daughter. He then joined the District Armed Reserve (DAR) at Chitradurga. He later completed his police training in Madhya Pradesh, and returned to Karnataka.
In December 1996, he raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl in Chitradurga. He managed to evade the cops but was finally arrested and suspended from service. A master of prison breaks, Umesh escaped from Ballari Hindalga prison when he was in judicial custody. According to a News18 report, Ballari Hindalga prison is the biggest in Karnataka and one of the safest in the country. Though he managed to flee, he was arrested in 1999 again for the brutal rape and murder of a 37-year-old widow in Peenya near Bengaluru. In all, Umesh has managed to escape from prison three times.
After multiple prison breaks, Umesh was finally caught in 2002 in Yeshwantpur in Bengaluru.
According to news reports, Umesh used to attack houses where women stayed alone. Umesh targetted single women, widows and housewives, after watching them for some time. He entered their houses on the pretext of seeking drinking water or rooms for rent. He would torture the victims, rape and murder them. He would then leave with their jewellery and other valuables to make it seem like a robbery. He would also take the victim's lingerie. According to a Timesnow report, an officer who probed the Peenya rape-murder case said that when cops tracked down a rented house Umesh was residing, they discovered two kgs of gold and bags full of women’s lingerie. He seemed to enjoy wearing the clothes of his victims. “His work experience gave him an understanding of the working of the police department. He knew how to cover his tracks, making it difficult for the police to catch him,” he said.
Cops refer to him as a 'sex maniac and psychopath' and believe that the number of victims is higher than what he has confessed to.