Karnataka Police on Tuesday claimed to have solved the November 4 murder of retired Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer R N Kulkarni, 82, in Mysuru with the arrest of two men. Police said the crime was committed out of revenge as the victim had gone to court against the building bylaws’ violations by the father of one of the arrested men.
Those arrested were identified as Manu, 30, an MBA graduate and his friend Varun. On November 4, Kulkarni was out for a walk around 5.30pm on the Mysore University campus when an unidentified vehicle hit him from behind, leading to his death. Initially, the traffic police took it as a hit-and-run case, but the CCTV camera footage showed that it was intentional.
Mysuru City Police Commissioner Chandragupta said Manu is the son of one Madappa who had constructed a building next to Kulkarni’s house in TK Layout of Sharadadevi Nagar in Mysuru. Kulkarni had flagged violation of bylaws in the construction, and took up the matter with Mysuru City Corporation (MCC). When the civic body didn’t initiate any action, Kulkarni approached a local court, which issued a notice to the civic body. The MCC in return issued a notice to Madappa on November 2 stating that they will demolish the structure over violation of building bylaws, police said.
This enraged Manu and he allegedly hatched a plan to kill Kulkarni. During the probe, the police found out that Manu and Varun planned the murder. Varun had taken Manu on his two-wheeler to recce the area where Kulkarni would come for walks. Manu bought a car from one Raghu, erased its registration number, and allegedly mowed down Kulkarni while he was walking along the road on the university campus on Friday.
Chandragupta said Manu was behind the wheel when the crime was committed. “Even Madappa was not aware of his son’s plan but investigations are still underway. There is another accused in the case and we have launched a manhunt to nab him,” he added.
An alumnus of Karnataka University, Kulkarni started working with the IB in 1963 and retired in 1998. Kulkarni had also authored some books, including ‘Facets of terrorism in India’ that was released in 2019 by the then defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Kulkarni had also served with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and was a part of a diplomatic mission abroad. He was awarded a Police (special duty) Service Medal by the Nagaland government in appreciation of his service during the insurgency.
Advertisement
Kulkarni lived with his wife Vatsala in Mysuru while their son and daughter stay abroad.