Udupi : Ramakrishna Ganiga (42) hatched a plan to murder his wife Vishala Ganiga in March and paid Rs.2 lakh to the two contract killers for executing it on July 12 in Brahmavar in Udupi district, said Superintendent of Police N. Vishnuvardhan on Wednesday.

Mr. Vishnuvardhan told reporters that the police arrested Ramakrishna Ganiga and Swaminath Nishad (38) of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, who is one among the two contract killers accused in the murder. A search is on for the other contract killer and also others involved in the murder.

Vishala Ganiga, who lived with her husband and daughter in Dubai, had come down to her home town on July 2 in relation with partition of ancestral property. She was found dead in her flat in Kumaragodu of Brahmavar on July 12. The police found that the perpetrators had strangled her to death. Five police teams were then formed to trace the accused.

Mr. Vishnuvardhan said that investigation revealed that the relationship between Ramakrishna Ganiga and Vishala Ganiga had soured. He had contacted two contract killers from Dubai in March and paid them more than ₹2 lakh for murdering his wife. When he had come along with his wife and daughter to Brahmavar a few days later in March, Ramakrishna Ganiga had introduced the two persons as his friends to his wife.

On July 12, Ramakrishna Ganiga called his wife when the latter was on her way to a bank. He asked her to return to her apartment and hand over a parcel to his two friends. The two contract killers came to the apartment 10 minutes after she had arrived and they murdered her. The presence of two cups of tea in the apartment made the police suspect the involvement of two persons in the murder. To hoodwink the police, the accused stole jewellery worn by Vishala Ganiga to give an impression that it was murder for gain, he said.

Mr. Vishnuvardan lauded the efforts put in by the five teams led by Police Inspectors Anantha Padmanabha, Manjunath, Sharanagowda, Pramod Kumar and A. Sampath Kumar in solving the case. He also appreciated the support from Senior Superintendent of Police, Gorakhpur, Dinesh Kumar, in the arrest of Nishad.

Director-General and Inspector-General of Police Praveen Sood has announced a reward of ₹50,000 to the members of the five police teams. Inspector-General of Police (Western Range) Devajyoti Ray gave away commendation certificates.