How Mysuru police solved murder of a retired IB officer within 3 days

Who was RN Kulkarni?

R N Kulkarni, born in 1940 in Savanur of Haveri district, was a graduate of Karnataka University in Dharwad. He started working with the IB in 1963 and served in several positions in the next three decades before retiring in 1998. Kulkarni also authored many books, including Facets of Terrorism in India and Sin of National Conscience. Facets of Terrorism in India was released in 2019 by then defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Kulkarni also served with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and was part of a diplomatic mission abroad. He was awarded a police (special duty) service medal by the government of Nagaland in appreciation of his service during the insurgency in the Northeast state. He lived with his wife Vatsala while his son and daughter lived abroad. His daughter is a judge at a court in the US. People who knew him say that Kulkarni was an avid cricket fan who even had played for Karnataka during his youth. “He was passionate about things he did. He had accurately exemplified the adage that age is just a number,” said a friend, who did not want to be named.

R N Kulkarni, born in 1940 in Savanur of Haveri district, was a graduate of Karnataka University in Dharwad. He started working with the IB in 1963 and served in several positions in the next three decades before retiring in 1998.

With a distinguished career behind him and having chronicled some of his experiences, Kulkarni was living a happy retired life. He used to go for evening walks either on the Manasa Gangothri campus of the University of Mysore or near the Kukkarahalli lake.

The accident plot and murder

Like on any other day, on November 4, 2022, Kulkarni Ningaraju went to University of Mysore for an evening walk around 5 pm. While his driver Ningaraju stayed in his car, Kulkarni went for a walk. Kulkarni used to return within an hour, but on that day he did not. In a statement given to the police then, Ningaraju said, “As I waited for him, he left for the walk. While I was waiting, one of the walkers informed me that he was hit by a car near the biotechnology department in the university. I rushed him to Kamakshi Hospital (less than 2 km away), where doctors declared he was brought dead.”

Ningaraju informed Kulkarni’s son-in-law Sanjay Angadi of the incident over the phone around 6.31 pm. The VV Puram traffic police registered a hit-and-run case. A police officer who was part of the investigation said, “Kulkarni’s death was also treated like any other road accident, and we did not know his past profession. So we spoke to security officials of the University of Mysore to check if there were any CCTV cameras around. Fortunately the cameras were working and the good thing was that they could store data for two years.”

Upon checking the visuals, the police found something they never expected. A police officer said, “Kulkarani was walking along the roadside and a car came and intentionally hit him before speeding away. It was a shock. We immediately informed then Mysuru city police commissioner Chandragupta. The case was transferred to the Jayalakshmipuram police station—from being probed as a freak road accident to a planned murder.”

#Karnataka
Retired #Intelligence Bureau officer RK Kulkarni was killed by an unidentified car in Mysuru. Initially traffic police registered a road accident case but CCTV evidences showed that it looked like a murder. The police have registered murder case. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/TFHmB94TDJ

— Kiran Parashar (@KiranParashar21) November 6, 2022

By then, the media got access to the CCTV footage and the death got national attention. “He is a retired IB officer and there could be a lot of things that he may have come across during his career. And the video just clearly showed that it was a deliberate act. There were a lot of questions asked of the police. Narasimharaja subdivision ACP M Shivashankar was appointed as the investigating officer. From a road accident, it became a mysterious murder, about which people needed answers from the police,” recalled an officer.

Chandragupta stayed with the investigating team till the case was cracked.

The motive

While starting the murder investigation, the police tried to ascertain the vehicle but found that it had a blank number plate. But what they also found out was that a two-wheeler had done a few rounds and given directions to the car involved in the killing. The police then caught C Varun, 30, a resident of Mysuru. He revealed that the man behind the murder was a 30-year-old MBA graduate, Manu M.

According to Chandragupta, Manu’s father Madappa had constructed a building next to Kulkarni’s house at TK Layout in Sharadadevi Nagar. Kulkarni had objected to Madappa’s breaking building bylaws. He initially complained to the city corporation but it did not take any action. He later approached a local court, which issued a notice to the corporation. On November 2, the civic body issued a notice to Madappa stating that it would demolish his building.

A police officer said, “Manu contacted Varun and hatched a plan to kill him and to make it look like an accident. Manu, who had bought the car from one Raghu, erased its registration number. Manu and Varun had done homework and planned the killing. Varun had taken Manu on his two-wheeler to show the place where Kulkarni usually came to walk. Then, on 4 November, 2022, they executed the plan.”

“There were a couple of arguments before Kulkarni took the matter to the court. Manu’s father Madappa was aware of the act but he did not know that his son had a plan to kill Kulkarni. Eventually, when we discovered Manu’s involvement, we picked them up. Fortunately, there were two students (a boy and a girl) who had seen the car hitting Kulkarni. The case got solved three days after the incident,” the officer said.

The arrests and present status

The police arrested Varun, Manu and Madappa in the case and they were sent to jail. The police have also filed a chargesheet in the case. “They initially approached the local court in Mysuru and then the Karnataka High Court, which denied them bail,” said a police officer.

While denying bail, the high court said, “although the prosecution case depends upon circumstantial evidence, the prosecution has successfully brought the prima facie case against the accused 1 and 2. When such materials are available before the Court, I do not find any merit in the petition to enlarge the petitioners on bail. The Court has to take note of other circumstantial material available before this Court and there are sound circumstances against the petitioners including motive as well as hiring vehicles which were used in committing the murder.”

Kulkarni’s daughter, who is a judge in a US court, is following up the case with the police. “We are hopeful of providing justice to the family. Nobody imagined that such an IB officer would be killed over a petty property dispute,” said the police officer who was part of the investigation.