No easy job this! For men in khaki, lathis and revolvers won’t alone do. On Wednesday when emotions boiled over and an angry crowd went berserk after a former CMC president’s daughter-in-law died under mysterious circumstances at Channakeshava Nagar on Parappana Agrahara Main Road, the police had their task cut out.
Police, led by DCP South-East Soumendu Mukherjee, played their cards to perfection and at the end of the day, nothing much was lost. Though the former CMC president’s family had managed to give the police as well as the mob the slip.
On the other hand, Archana's father Pillappa, an Air Force employee, was woebegone. Clutching a sheaf of papers which he claimed was proof enough that his daughter was a victim of dowry death, Pillappa said, "Eight months back on November 2, 2006, I spent Rs 18 lakh and got my daughter married. We gave whatever they asked hoping my daughter will be happy but today she is murdered.”
All that was left with him of his daughter was some photographs from her marriage album.
“My daughter’s in-laws had made it virtually impossible for me to even contact her. Telephone calls were censored before the receiver was given to my daughter. She hardly spoke a few lines from home but always regretted having married. We constantly advised her to have patience and give the marriage some time. But we never expected they would choose to eliminate her. My daughter was a double graduate, she could have shaped a career of her own," says Archana's mother.
"We last saw Archana around 8 am on Wednesday. She rushed out of the house crying and then her family members dragged her back into the house,” said a neighbour.
Krishnappa's son from the first wife had committed suicide in the same room where Archana was found dead now, said another neighbour.
Vijaykumar was not employed anywhere but was running a small business from RTO building.
Sources said Krishnappa, a former HMT employee, had amassed wealth after occupying the CMC president’s post. He owned several buildings and a bar and restaurant besides renting out rows of houses in his locality.