The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Many murder probes reach dead end

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 28, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Many murder probes reach dead end

Lack of cooperation from family members hinders investigation into murder cases, writes K.V. Subramanya

SEVERAL MURDERS, particularly double murders that took place in the city in the last five years have remained unsolved. In most cases, the investigation has reached a dead end and even the motive behind the killings is not known.

While the police come out with many reasons for not solving these murders, the most important of them has been lack of cooperation from the family members of the victims.

The police say that in any murder case, the information provided by the relatives of the victim plays a vital role in apprehending the suspects.

"It is the victim's family members who normally know more about the person than others."

According to the Commissioner of Police, S. Mariswamy, in many of the unsolved murder cases, the victim's family members are not forthcoming and this has hindered the investigation. Referring to a sensational murder that was reported from the South Division two years ago, Mr. Mariswamy said though the family members are aware of the assailant, they are not revealing his identity. "A close relative of the victim even threatened to commit suicide if we continued the investigation," he said.

Another senior official said that in a double murder that was reported three-and-a-half years ago from the South Division, the family of the victims had "dodged" the police during the interrogation.

If the victims were into any illegal or immoral activities, their relatives fear that the family's reputation would be damaged if the truth comes out.

In some cases, the relatives themselves could be involved in the crime. So they do not cooperate with the police, the official said.

Transfer

Another important reason for the delay in cracking the murders is that in most of the cases, the officials who are investigating the case have been transferred.

Their successors are not even aware of facts of the case, the official said.

"In murder cases, we usually get the vital clues in a day or two after the incident. If we fail to get the clues even after a week, the investigation will normally reach a dead end," the official said.

The twin murders of Sadananda Shetty and his friend Vinod in Indiranagar (December 1999), Meena Rasquinha and her maid Prema Mary in Ashoknagar (May 2001), Shankaraiah and his daughter-in-law Padmaja in Vijayanagar (August 2001), Jawahar Panchagatti and his wife Anu in Girinagar (November 2001) and Nirmala and her daughter Rajeshwari in Madivala (August 2002) are some of the major cases that have remained unsolved.

Likewise, murders of an engineering student, Vignesh, in Kumarsaswamy Layout, and of senior citizens Rajagopalachar in Basaveshwaranagar, Keshava Prabhu in Nandini Layout, Nandini Rao in Cubbon Park, Sarai Bai in Ulsoor, Narasamma in Seshadripuram, Jayadevamma in K.R. Puram have also remained undetected for long.

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