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High drama at police HQ as couple attempt suicide

Woman says retd ACP 'threatened to kill my husband'
Last Updated 19 June 2013, 20:11 IST

High drama was witnessed at the State police headquarters on Nrupathunga Road here on Wednesday when a couple, in their 30s, attempted suicide by consuming poison. They even administered the lethal substance to their two teenage children. But timely medical aid foiled their plans.

What took the police aback, however, was the allegation by the couple that a retired ACP had driven them to attempt suicide. Just hours earlier, the couple told reporters at the Press Club that Subbanna, who retired as ACP a month ago, was “foisting” false cases on them.

K Mahesh Bhupathi (38) and his wife Dakshayini (32) — the couple from Arakere village of Tumkur district who attempted suicide — alleged that Subbanna “cheated and harassed us”.

The retired ACP had assured the couple of negotiating a settlement between Dakshayini and her half-brothers over a property dispute. “We had to take this extreme step as our pleas for justice went unheeded,” they said at the press conference.

Subbanna, however, denied the allegations and claimed that he was “victimised” by the family. He said that as a police officer, he only tried to negotiate a settlement among a divided family. He admitted to assuring Dakshyayini of settling the issue amicably. “But it could not be reached as both the parties refused to give some concessions. Dakshyayini is behaving as if the dispute is now between me and her, and her half-brothers are not involved,” Subbanna told Deccan Herald.

The couple, along with their 16-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son, arrived at the police headquarters in the evening. Then all of a sudden, they consumed poison and collapsed. A few policemen deployed nearby rushed to their rescue and took them to St Martha’s Hospital just opposite the road. Dr Praveen, who attended to the family, said that all the four were out of danger.

Kamal Pant, Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), said that the case would be investigated in earnest. When asked if a probe would be initiated against Subbanna based on the couple’s allegation, Pant said that since the ACP was retired, the jurisdictional police would take action. “No special probe is needed,” he told this newspaper.

A case under Sections 309 (attempt to suicide) and 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC read with Section 34 (common intent) has been booked against the couple. Besides, Subbanna has been booked under 306.

‘Sweet talk’

Dakshyayini filed a civil suit before Tumkur Civil Court in 2010, against her half-brothers, Kantharaj and Somashekhar, over the division of ancestral property. Subbanna, who was then the circle inspector at Tumkur, “sweet-talked” her into resolving the issue out of court, Dakshayini alleged. He even got her to file an affidavit, withdrawing the case.

But Subbanna “betrayed” her later. “He asked us to give up the claim and even threatened to kill my husband in an encounter. Worse still, he would give my husband’s supari to rowdies,” she claimed. 

In May 2011, Dakshayini’s half-brothers “forcibly administered” her poison and got a policeman to drop her off at her house. “They wanted to get me killed and blame it on my husband. Subbanna and my half-brothers conspired together and cheated and harassed us,” she stressed.

According to Dakshayini, things came to a head a fortnight ago when she sought Subbanna’s help in resolving the issue. “He was brash and told us he doesn’t care if hang ourselves to death,” she said, adding that her family ran from pillar to post for justice and landed in debt trap.

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(Published 19 June 2013, 20:11 IST)

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