The head of a three-member family made this confession after his family members were arrested recently on charges of murdering their landlord for asking them to pay the rent arrears, police said.

The main accused, Chandrakanth S Sharma (48), his wife Harsha (43) and son Monto (21) were arrested in the city's Hennur-Banaswadi layout on January 12, a day after the landlord's son filed a complaint, stating that his father had gone to Sharma's house and failed to return.

The landlord, 62-year-old Raghavan, failed to get the rent arrears from Sharma, despite repeated requests, police said.

Sharma, hailing from Nashik, had taken the house on rent, saying he is a professional photographer and videographer.

On January 10, Sharma asked Raghavan to come to his house to collect the rent. On his arrival, the family members allegedly strangulated him to death and then took the body to Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, where they burnt it, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Alok Kumar told reporters in Banglore.

While returning to the city, Sharma told his wife and son that he has killed 20 people so far and had not been caught. During questioning, Sharma confessed to killing Raghavan to sell the rented house. He also confessed to having killed 20people over monetary disputes between 1978-1981, Alok Kumar said.