• Incident shocks quiet neighbourhood of Srinagar Layout near Ramabai Nagar

Mysore/Mysuru: The post-Dasara festive atmosphere got a jolt this morning as the city woke up to a brutal crime where a man and his woman friend were hacked to death with a machete last night. The incident occurred at Srinagar and the accused here is the man’s grown up son who was upset about his father meeting that woman.

Srinagar Layout is located near Ramabai Nagar, off the Ring Road junction and the quiet neighbourhood was shaken by the way the murders were committed. The victims are Shivaprakash (54) and Tulasi (48) — name changed to protect family honour — a widow. The accused is Sagar, Shivaprakash’s son.

Shivaprakash, a resident of K.G. Koppal was reportedly having a relationship with Tulasi for 8 to 10 years. He used to stay at Tulasi’s house in Srinagar and this time, he had stayed there for a fortnight. Shivaprakash’s family was in the know of the relationship and had no qualms about it, except for Sagar who had objected. 

Sagar is married and has a son and a daughter. But he was unemployed and used to live with his father’s money and this often led to fights between the father and son. Shivaprakash owned a couple of houses and also a vast tract of agricultural land which he had given on rent and was getting a handsome income. Police said that Sagar had taken loans from many private financiers and Shivaprakash had repaid them recently.

Police said that a property dispute or a fight over sharing money in the family could have caused the relationship between the father and son to strain. Seething in anger, Sagar was waiting to strike. Yesterday at around 10 pm, Sagar, after confirming that his father was with Tulasi, reached Srinagar and knocked on the door.

An unsuspecting Shivaprakash opened the door and Sagar hit his chest with the machete he had brought with him, killing him instantly. Though he tried to escape, Sagar hacked him repeatedly, said the Police.

Hearing the commotion, Tulasi came out of the house. Sagar lunged at her and hit her with the sharp machete. Tulasi’s son Nagarjuna, who came to her rescue, was also assaulted but he managed to escape with injuries. Sagar fled from the spot after committing the murders. Nagarjuna has been admitted to a private hospital, the Police added.

Superintendent of Police (SP) R. Chethan, Additional SP Shivakumar, Mysuru South Inspector N. Shashikumar and staff visited the spot last night and summoned the dog squad and fingerprint unit to gather clues. A spot mahazar was conducted and the bodies were shifted to MMC&RI mortuary, where post-mortem is being conducted. The Police said that they have launched a manhunt to nab Sagar.