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Padmapriya Bhat case: preliminary investigation rules out foul play

Karnataka/Delhi Bureaux

Body handed over to family; inquest proceedings on

Delhi/Udupi/Mangalore: Preliminary investigation into the mysterious death of 32-year-old Padmapriya, wife of Udupi MLA K. Raghupati Bhat, have ruled out foul play. She was found hanging in a flat at Dwarka in South-West Delhi on Sunday.

“The post-mortem was conducted at Safdarjung Hospital on Monday and the body has been handed over to the family. The inquest proceedings are on,” said a senior police officer. Circumstantial evidence suggest that it was a case of suicide, he added.

Ms. Bhat was found hanging from a hook in the ceiling when a Karnataka police team accompanied by the local police broke open her Shama Apartments flat on Sunday. She had reportedly taken the flat on rent about three days ago.

It has been learnt that a family friend Athul Rao arranged for a second-hand Wagon-R car for Ms. Bhat and the advance was paid to a broker named Titoo on June 2, almost 10 days before she went “missing” from Udupi this past week. “Athul Rao approached me on June 2 to buy a car. A deal was struck for a second-hand Wagon-R car for Rs. 1,45,000 and he paid Rs. 10,000 in advance. He told me that the delivery would be taken on June 11. He came to me on June 12 accompanied by a woman to take the car. Mr. Rao told me that he was scheduled to take a flight to Bangalore around 1.30 p.m., and the car was delivered at Shama Apartments,” said Mr. Titoo, who owns Dwarka Motors in Sector 1 of Dwarka sub-city.

The Inspector-General of Police (Western Range), Ashit Mohan Prasad, said that as per indications given by Mr. Bhat’s family, the body would be taken directly to his residence at Udupi from the Bajpe airport, where it would arrive by a regular Jet Airways flight.

“The family has not given any indication if the body would be taken to her parents’ house at Karnad in Mulky on the way to Udupi,” he added.

Meanwhile, rumours and speculation about the reasons for Ms. Bhat’s death abound in Udupi, especially with regard to the motives of Athul Rao who appears to have helped Ms. Bhat leave town and set up house in Delhi. The family of Mr. Raghupati Bhat has blamed him for her death.

Balakrishna Acharya, a cousin of Mr. Raghupati Bhat, even accused Athul Rao, a childhood friend of Mr. Raghupati Bhat, of “hypnotising” Ms. Bhat, and “kidnapping” her with an eye to usurping her property. Athul Rao is under arrest, and his house at Doddanagudde is empty. His wife, mother and two sons left the house on Sunday.

At a press conference, Mr. Acharya alleged that Mr. Rao was a schemer who was jealous of his friend’s rise and therefore, kidnapped his wife.

All their relatives tried to contact Ms. Bhat several times on their mobile telephones after she left, he said.

When Ms. Bhat left her husband’s house for her parents’ house, she had told Mr. Bhat that she would return after three days. When Mr. Bhat’s children tried calling their mother on Wednesday they got a “not reachable” response. Then attempts were made to call the landline telephone at Ms. Bhat’s parents’ house. “But the telephone at the other side was not working. Since she had gone to her parents’ house, we did not give much importance to her not calling Mr. Bhat’s house in Udupi,” he said.

“We lodged a police complaint that Ms. Bhat was missing as soon as her car was traced at Kunjargiri village (12 km from Udupi) on Friday. (Ms.) Padmapriya (Bhat) left Mr. Bhat’s house at 9.45 a.m. on June 11 and not June 10 as was being repeatedly mentioned in certain sections of the media,” he said.

Mr. Acharya said, “(Ms.) Padmapriya (Bhat) had a harmonious relationship with all members of Mr. Bhat’s family and Mr. Bhat and (Ms.) Padmapriya (Bhat) had a very cordial relationship.” Mr. Bhat’s elder brother Ramesh Barithaya and Ms. Bhat’s maternal uncle Prakash Rao were present.

The police have refused to implicate Athul Rao in the case at this early stage of the investigation. IGP (Western Range) A.M. Prasad told The Hindu that it was premature for him to say anything. “Only after the investigations are complete, can I tell you what his level of involvement was. It is premature for me to say anything,” he said.

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