Bengaluru:
Former Karnataka Director General of Police (DGP) Om Prakash’s wife on Monday was arrested in connection with his murder at his residence in Bengaluru, police said.
Prakash’s wife Pallavi (64) was arrested under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The developments came as the Bengaluru police Commissioner Dayanand ordered the transfer of the high-profile murder case to the Central Crime Branch (CCB). The CCB is set to officially assume charge of the investigation from tomorrow. The police are not likely going to see Pallavi’s custody as the CCB will probe the case.
Sixty-eight-year-old Prakash was allegedly stabbed to death by his wife at their residence in HSR Layout on Sunday evening. His body was found with multiple stab wounds to his stomach and chest.
Sources say Pallavi is the prime suspect, with her son Karthikesh saying she had threatened to kill his father.
In his complaint, Karthikesh said in view of the threats, Prakash had left home to stay with his sister. Two days before he was allegedly killed, his daughter Kruthi visited him and coaxed him to return. She brought back Prakash following which a case was registered.
Karthikesh also alleged that Pallavi and his sister, Kruthi, have been suffering from mental health issues. “My mother, Pallavi, and my sister, Kruthi, have been suffering from depression and used to fight with my father frequently. I strongly suspect that they are involved in the murder of my father,” he said.
Sources said the investigation also found that Pallavi is suffering from schizophrenia and other mental health issues. She had created a ruckus several times in the IPS Officers’ Quarters Residential Complex where the couple lived and ran into other homes shouting insults.
What Happened On Sunday Evening
According to Karthikesh, he was at the Karnataka Golf Association in Domlur in the evening when he received a call from a neighbour. The neighbour told him his father was found lying in a pool of blood with multiple injuries. A broken bottle and a knife were found the next morning.
Karthikesh alleged that his father suffered a head injury a few months ago when Pallavi hit him with a stone.
How The Murder Came To Light
Sources said a preliminary inquiry revealed that Pallavi allegedly threw chilli powder at Prakash, tied him up, attacked him with a glass bottle, and stabbed him to death. After stabbing him to death, his wife confessed to another policeman’s wife about the crime. This woman informed her husband, who alerted the cops about the murder.
Reports suggest the former DGP and his wife had an altercation over a property that turned physical and led to the murder. The cops are also investigating whether Kruthi played a role in the murder.
Prakash, originally from Bihar, held a Master’s Degree in Geology. He became the Director General of Police of Karnataka in March this year. Earlier, he had served as the chief of the Fire and Emergency Services and Home Guards.
Ex-Top Cop’s Wife Claimed He Poisoned Her
Meanwhile, Pallavi claimed she suspected Prakash of poisoning her and said she was a “hostage” in her own house and that the top cop’s men kept an eye on her movements.
NDTV has accessed messages Pallavi sent to multiple WhatsApp groups she was part of.
In one of the messages to an IPS officers’ group, she sought urgent action against her husband, a 1981-batch IPS officer. She said Prakash’s revolver must be seized immediately. “I am a hostage. Always in surveillance by Omprakash’s agents wherever I go,” she said.
She also alleged the former top cop was poisoning her. “I have been asking him to live separately for years, but to no avail. Wherever I go on my own, the same food and water poisoning starts.”
In one of the messages, Pallavi said even food deliveries were “adulterated” on her husband’s instructions. “Money makes everything so easy. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” she said.
