Reasons: Alleged negligence, dereliction of duty, fabrication of documents, f iling false charge-sheet and botched investigation

Mysore/Mysuru: In a major fallout from the sensational ‘dead’ wife found alive case that drew national attention, three Police officers — Kushalnagar Circle Inspector B.G. Prakash, Yelwal Sub-Inspector Mahesh Kumar and Jayapura Sub-Inspector Prakash Yattinamani — have been suspended for alleged negligence, dereliction of duty, fabrication of evidence, submission of a false charge-sheet to the Court of Law and conducting a botched and sloppy investigation.

The suspension orders were issued by Dr. M.B. Boralingaiah, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Southern Range), on June 28 (Saturday) and the suspended officers were officially served their orders yesterday. A departmental enquiry has also been ordered against all three.

Sources revealed that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, visibly angered upon being briefed about the case, issued oral instructions for the immediate suspension of the officers. The DIGP acted swiftly on the CM’s directive.

Additionally, the Fifth Additional District and Sessions Court, Mysuru — which recently acquitted Suresh, the man wrongfully accused of murdering his wife — has directed the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the Mysuru Law Court to file a criminal complaint against B.G. Prakash, who was the Investigating Officer at the time.

Case background

The case dates back to November 2020, when Mallige, wife of Suresh — a tribal resident of Basavanahalli in Kushalnagar, Kodagu — went missing after 18 years of marriage.

Suresh filed a missing complaint at the Kushalnagar Rural Police Station.

Despite an initial investigation, the case went cold. Seven months later, in June 2021, officers from Bettadapura Police Station in Periyapatna brought Suresh to identify a skeleton discovered in their jurisdiction.

He was reportedly coerced into identifying the skeletal remains, clothes and slippers as belonging to his missing wife. Under duress, he was also allegedly forced to confess to her murder.

An FIR was then registered, and Suresh was arrested. He spent two years in jail before securing bail from the High Court.

However, in a dramatic twist, on April 1, 2025, Suresh’s friends spotted his wife Mallige alive at a hotel in Madikeri, sharing snacks with her paramour, Ganesh. The Madikeri Police were alerted and took Mallige into custody.

During interrogation, she confessed to living with Ganesh in T. Shettigeri village, Ponnampet Taluk, for the past five years.

Her discovery triggered a judicial and administrative storm. Suresh was acquitted by the Court, and questions were raised about the integrity of the investigation that had cost an innocent man two years of his life behind bars.

At the time of fabricated investigation, B.G. Prakash was serving as Bylakuppe Circle Inspector while Mahesh Kumar and Prakash Yattinamani were Sub-Inspectors at Bettadapura Station.