Two room boys held for Uzbek national’s murder in Bengaluru hotel

Two room boys have been arrested for the murder of an Uzbek woman in a star hotel in Bengaluru on March 13.

The arrested duo — Amrit Sonu (22) and Robert (26) — are both from Assam and had reportedly joined Jagadish Hotel on Sankey Road only about a month ago. Both worked as room boys at the hotel.

Crime for money

The duo had reportedly entered 37-year-old Zarina’s room on March 13 evening to clean the room when they saw her expensive phone and cash worth Rs 30,000 in INR and two notes of 2,000 and one of 5,000 denominations in Uzbekistan’s currency Som.

Zarina was reportedly upset about the duo entering her room without permission. According to an India Today report, she slapped one of the two accused, leading to a scuffle. Zarina reportedly had scratch marks on her face.

Arrest from Kerala

However, the duo had allegedly planned to rob her by then. They allegedly smothered her with a pillow and fled the hotel with her cash and the phone and escaped to Kerala, from where they were arrested on Friday (March 15). The Uzbek notes have reportedly been found on the accused.

Since the hotel rooms have a card locking system, the duo, while escaping, simply pulled the door behind them and turned the knob, locking it. When Zarina did not leave her room for long and did not take calls, the hotel staff opened the room with a master key and found her lying dead on the floor.

Zarina was reportedly in India on a tourist visa and had been living in the hotel since March 5.