• Police say it is murder, motive not known
• R.N. Kulkarni (82), who had served as Intelligence Bureau (IB) Officer, Government of India, for over 35 years, was on his routine evening walk in Manasagangothri campus when a car hit him and sped away

Mysore/Mysuru: Mystery shrouds the death of former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Officer R.N. Kulkarni, who died yesterday after a car is suspected to have knocked him down while he was on his routine evening walk in Manasagangothri campus here. In what appeared to be a hit-and-run case initially, it later turned out to be a murder of the former IB Officer as the Police began probe.

R.N. Kulkarni (82), a resident of Sharadadevinagar in Mysuru, was on an evening walk in Manasagangothri campus as usual at about 5.45 pm on Friday. He had come to the Gangothri campus in his car along with his driver.

After asking the car driver to park at a specified spot, Kulkarni went on his walk from east to west side on the narrow road that links the Computer Science Block with Post Office in the sprawling campus. This road, on which normally only a few two-wheelers travel during day, runs behind the Law Department building. As Kulkarni was walking freely, a car that came from SJCE side appeared to have knocked him down and sped away from the spot.

Sometime later, passers-by informed the waiting car driver, who rushed to the spot only to find Kulkarni lying motionless on the road. Immediately, he drove to nearby Kamakshi Hospital with Kulkarni, where the doctors declared him brought dead.

V.V. Puram Traffic Police, who visited the spot, conducted mahazar and registered a hit-and-run case. But as the Police began investigation, the case appeared to be a planned murder, according to the Police who are screening the images captured by a CCTV installed close to the spot of the incident. Police sources said that they came to this conclusion based on four factors. Firstly, the road on which Kulkarni was walking was narrow and an interior one, on which a few two-wheelers and hardly a four-wheeler travel.

Secondly, the car, which is suspected to have hit Kulkarni, did not stop and sped from the spot in a flash, with none of the occupant/s bothering to get down to know what had happened.

Thirdly, the car had no Registration Number plate either on its front or back and fourthly, the car’s right side rear-view mirror of grey colour had come apart and fell on the road, which goes to show that the car driver was least bothered about the damages to his vehicle.

After screening the images captured in the CCTV, the Police said that the car is grey in colour and may be a Honda City or Skoda. The car is suspected to have come from SJCE side and after knocking down Kulkarni, exited the Manasagangothri campus either from Bogadi road side or Hunsur road side under the cover of fading sunlight. The Police have recovered the broken spectacles, dentures and other personal possessions of Kulkarni from the spot, which has been cordoned off.

Meanwhile, Police sources said that the miscreants are suspected to have watched the movements of Kulkarni at least for some days before going ahead with their alleged plan of killing him in an ‘accident’ similar to a hit-and-run case.

V.V. Puram Traffic Police, after coming to the conclusion that Kulkarni’s death is an act of murder, transferred the case to the jurisdictional Jayalakshmipuram Police Station.

Police, after obtaining clues from the spot of the incident and screening the CCTV images, are on the hunt to trace the absconding car and its occupants. Police said that the motive will be unearthed once the car is traced and the culprits are nabbed.

Three teams formed

City Police Commissioner Dr. Chandragupta, DCP (L&O) Pradeep Gunti and other top Police Officers visited the spot this morning. The Police have formed three teams to crack the case.

Kulkarni, who was also a writer, leaves behind his wife Vatsala, a son, a daughter and a host of relatives and friends. Last rites will be conducted on Monday after his children arrive from abroad, according to family sources.

Profile: Born at Savanur in the then Dharwad district (now in Haveri) in 1940, Kulkarni  graduated (B.Sc Honours) from Karnatak University at Dharwad. He also got a Diploma in Journalism from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB), Bombay.

Beginning his career as a teacher, Kulkarni joined the IB in 1963 and went on to become a secret service agent with the Indian Government. He  retired as an Assistant Director of the agency about two decades ago. He had also worked in Indian diplomatic missions, the corporate world and even as a pilot for some time. He was a good sportsperson and represented the State in Cricket. He was leading a retired life at Sharadadevinagar in city.

It may be mentioned here that Kulkarni’s third book ‘Facets of Terrorism in India’ was released by the then Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Mar.6, 2019  at a private hotel in city. His other works include  ‘… and yet God Smiles’ and ‘Sin of National Conscience’.