Attackers struck Mines and Geology officer from behind, three teams formed to nab culprits

BENGALURU: The city police have formed three teams to probe the murder of Mines and Geology Deputy Director Prathima K S (45), who was found with her throat slit at her apartment in Gokula Layout in the city on Sunday morning. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Division) Rahul Kumar said that Prathima was first suffocated, then strangled and killed by slitting her throat.

“The incident came to light when Prathima’s brother called her, and when he got no response he went to her house and found her dead with her throat slit. Pratima had returned home around 8 pm on Saturday. She lived alone for the past five years while her former husband and son lived in Tirthahalli. No trace of robbery has been found on the spot”, the DCP said.

“Pratima’s body was sent to the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) hospital for postmortem examination”, he added.

The police were checking CCTV footage in the area and collecting evidence. They have gathered some clues about accused and are likely to arrest the accused soon.

Prathima got divorced from her husband five years ago with mutual consent and was living alone in the house. On Saturday, Prathima left office at 7:45 pm and reached home at 8:30 pm. She asked the driver how he would reach home as it was raining. The driver dropped her, parked the car and left on his two-wheeler.

Prathima got off the car and reached her flat on the first floor. As she was opening the door, she was attacked from behind and the attackers dragged her inside and closed the door. Due to the attack, the glasses worn by the deceased fell near the door. The lunch box that Prathima had taken to the office was also found at the door.

A rope was tied around her neck so that no one could hear her screams. Then she was killed by a strangulation  and slitting her throat with a knife. It appears that the murder was pre-planned.

Prathima’s brother Prathish called her at 8.30 pm on Saturday and then again at 9 pm. As she did not answer the calls, he called again at 9:30 pm and 10 pm, but there was no response. As she did not receive the repeated calls, Prathish assumed that she must have gone on a raid.

At 8 am on Sunday, Prathish came to her house in Gokula Layout. The iron door of the house was locked from inside. When he opened the door, he saw that his sister had been murdered.

Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner K A Dayanand said, “Prathima was constantly in touch with me and she was an honest and brave officer. She used to attend all meetings with with full preparation. One month ago, I had called all the officers and took them to task about illegal sand mining, illegal quarrying and stone crushing. I told them to look into the matter, but there was no work-related issues with her and no such complaint has been received. I told them to stop the lorries coming from Tamil Nadu. She always had a positive mindset. The exact reason for the murder will be known after the police investigation”.

Prathima’s brother Pratish said they would talk on the phone every day. “I am confident that a proper investigation will be done and justice will be served. She was a very strong woman. There was no problem in the family, either with her former husband or anyone else. I can’t believe that she has been murdered. We would  call each other regularly. Today, we had to go to a wedding and I had been calling her since last night, but she was not responding. When I called again in the morning, there was no response. So, I called some family members who stay in the same building and came to know she was murdered. She had no problem regarding work. If there was anything like that, she would have told me. There is no theft in the house. I have faith in the police department and murderers should be punished”.