Former chief of the Karnataka police, Om Prakash
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: Om Prakash, a former chief of the Karnataka police, was allegedly murdered by his wife at their home in Bengaluru on Sunday. He was 68.
Preliminary investigations suggest that Om Prakash got into an argument with his wife, Pallavi, during lunch around 4 pm on the ground floor of their three-storeyed home in HSR Layout.
The altercation escalated quickly. Police say Pallavi overpowered him, assaulted him with her bare hands and then stabbed him with two knives, at least six times in the neck and back of the head. As he collapsed and writhed in pain for 10 minutes, she reportedly sat motionless on the chair, well-placed police sources told DH.
Kruti, the couple's unmarried daughter, was upstairs at the time but police do not suspect her involvement. The couple's daughter-in-law arrived at the house later.
Pallavi later called a retired IPS officer's wife before contacting the police helpline 112. Investigators who arrived at the scene found bloodstains all over and a plate of food still on the dining table.
A team of officers led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Sarah Fathiema questioned Pallavi and other family members. Pallavi was later held and taken to the HSR Layout police station for further questioning.
DG&IGP Alok Mohan and other senior police officers visited the crime scene.
The sources noted that a property dispute was the most likely motive for the murder. Pallavi was reportedly unhappy that Om Prakash had gifted property to one of his siblings.
There was also marital discord. Police investigations also found that the couple had frequent quarrels in recent months. Pallavi once protested outside the house against her husband and often talked ill about him to the family members of serving and retired IPS officers, the source said.
Srinivas Gowda, a police inspector posted in the VVIP security wing, told reporters on Sunday evening that Om Prakash had called him around 3.10 pm and sounded cheerful.
"I wanted to go meet him but he asked me not to come, saying his wife was around and she didn't like visitors from the police department," Gowda said.
The inspector revealed that the retired DG&IGP's wife also suffered from health problems.
Police have taken a complaint from Om Prakash's son, Karthikesh, and are in the process of registering an FIR invoking murder charges.
The body has been kept in the mortuary cold storage at St John's Medical College Hospital where a post-mortem will be conducted on Monday, a source in the hospital said.
A native of Piprasi village in Bihar's Champaran district and an MSc (Geology) graduate, Prakash was a 1981-batch IPS officer.
He became the Karnataka DG&IGP on February 28, 2015, and superannuated in January 2017.