Police probing whether ex-IB officer’s death was accident or murder: HM

MYSURU: The death of an 83-year-old retired Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer is being closely investigated and a report will be out soon on whether it was a murder or an accident, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said on Monday. “We are investigating this matter very seriously,” he said.

The investigation into the death of the ex-IB officer, R N Kulkarni, took a twisting turn on Sunday after senior police officials suspected that it could be a murder. The police had initially believed that it was a case of an accident and had initially registered a hit-and-run case against the unidentified vehicle driver.

R K Kulkarni, a retired, CIB officer

But after the police went through CCTV footage, they found it to be a deliberate act of the miscreants. After this, the case was transferred to the Jayalaxmipuram police station and a case of murder was registered.

The incident was reported at the Manasa Gangothri University campus on Friday. The victim was not walking but was standing on the side of the road. The CCTV footage showed that a car, without registration number plates, intentionally knocked him down and escaped. The victim was taken to a hospital nearby, where he succumbed to his injuries.

An unidentified car rammed into Kulkarni while he was walking in the Manasa Gangothri campus.

Mysuru Police Commissioner Dr Chandragupta had on Sunday announced that a three-member team of senior police officers had been formed to probe the matter, and said that the victim was retired for 23 years. It is believed that the murder was due to a property dispute.