Mysuru police crack former IB officer’s murder, arrest neighbour’s son and seize his car

Dispute with neighbour over a construction next to the deceased’s house was the reason for the crime, says police commissioner

The Mysuru police have solved the murder of retired Intelligence Bureau Officer R N Kulkarni by arresting the son of the deceased officer’s neighbour and are probing the involvement of others in the murder conspiracy.

Police Commissioner Chandragupta told reporters on Tuesday that the dispute over a construction next to Mr. Kulkarni’s house was the reason behind the murder. There was long-standing rift between the families of one Madappa and Mr. Kulkarni with regard to the construction and the parties had even approached the courts, besides the Mysore City Corporation (MCC), over the row.

Peeved over the hurdles posed by Mr. Kulkarni with regard to the construction, Madappa’s son, Manu (30), plotted to eliminate Mr. Kulkarni. The accused was helped by a friend in committing the crime as he monitored the movements of Mr. Kulkarni, including his evening walk in the Manasagangotri campus.

Mr. Chandragupta said Manu drove the car and knocked down Mr. Kulkarni in Manasagangotri on November 4 around 5:30 pm. The car, which did not have a registration number plate, belonged to one Raghu, who had given it to Manu for selling. The search is on for Manu’s friend, he added.

Mr. Chandragupta said the investigation was carried out based on a complaint from Kulkarni’s son-in-law who had accused Mr Madappa’s family behind the killing of his father-in-law, and accordingly an FIR was registered by the Jayalakshmipuram police.

The CCTV footage played a crucial role in cracking the case since the police had believed it to be a hit-and-run case in the beginning and there were no eye-witnesses either. However, preliminary investigation confirmed conspiracy and a murder case was registered. Teams led by ACP Shivashankar carried out the investigation with the help of CCB.