Bangalore, Jun 10 (Express / The Hindu) : The 34-year-old son of a retired deputy commissioner of police in Bangalore committed suicide on Monday by shooting himself with his father’s licensed revolver.
The incident occurred in the RT Nagar area in north Bangalore on Monday afternoon. The victim has been identified as R Raghavendra the son of former city DCP V Ramaiah who retired a few months ago. The victim who was involved in the real estate business shot himself in his sports utility vehicle with his father’s licensed gun.
The DCP (North) Sandeep Patil said that the victim left behind a note suggesting that he was deep in debt.
The police, who visited the spot where Raghavendra Prasad shot himself dead in his car , were unsure whether it was indeed a case of suicide.
But it was not long before the police were convinced that Raghavendra Prasad had indeed killed himself, after they found a small slip tucked behind the rear view mirror in the car. Written by Raghavendra, the slip had the contact numbers of two of his relatives advising those who found the slip to contact them.
The slip further said that he had left letters pertaining to the incident with his driver Manjunath.
High drama ensued as the police immediately summoned Manjunath, who said Raghavendra gave him the four sealed envelopes on Monday morning as he left the house driving the car himself.
Raghavendra’s father, V. Ramaiah, who retired as DCP (PRO), Bangalore Police Commissionerate last year, also reached the spot by then. Ramaiah broke down as he read the letters in the presence of senior police officials on the spot.
The letters
The four letters, printouts of word documents keyed in on a computer, were addressed to his father, his mother, his wife, Meena, and the jurisdictional police inspector.
In the letter addressed to his father, Raghavendra has reportedly apologised to him for “misusing his weapon” and also for borrowing Rs. 4 lakh in the name of his friend, Umesh, while he had himself utilised the money and had not repaid the loan.
He has also mentioned that he had suffered severe losses and was in debt, forcing him to cheating his father as well.
The police said that they were yet to get hold of the two letters addressed to his mother and wife.
Ramaiah broke down as he said that his son had “betrayed him by killing himself”.
He has two young daughters, he said.