An eighty-three-year-old former Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer was discovered dead on November 4, in Mysuru's Manasa Gangothri campus while he was taking his routine evening walk. RN Kulkarni’s death was initially thought to be the result of a car accident. But CCTV footage obtained by the police has pointed to premeditated murder. RN Kulkarni was a retired officer of the Intelligence Bureau and had also worked with the Research and Analytics Wing (RAW) of Government of India.
A CCTV at the location of murder captured the incident shows Kulkarni walking on a narrow road near the Biotechnology Department of Manasa Gangothri campus. He spots a grey sedan car approaching him at a very fast speed and moves aside to give way to the vehicle. However, the vehicle swerves sharply, rams into the 83-year-old, who attempts to move away but fails, and flees the scene.
Visuals of Former IB Assistant Director and IOC vigilance chief RN Kulkarni mowed down by a car in Mysuru’s Manasa Ganothri Campus. He was 83. Trigger warning pic.twitter.com/SDzN2xFlXy
— Samrah Attar (@samrahattar) November 6, 2022
RN Kulkarni, a resident of Sharadadevi Nagar in Mysuru, is survived by his wife Vatsala and a daughter Parinita. Based on a complaint by the victim’s son-in-law, an FIR has been registered with the Jayalakshmipuram Police Station. According to the complaint, Kulkarni was engaged in a dispute with his neighbour Madappa over building violations allegedly committed by the neighbour while constructing a house, adjacent to Kulkarni’s house. Kulkarni had complained against the neighbour and the city corporation over the plan deviations to the house.
The complaint stated that Kulkarni’s daughter advised him to lodge a police complaint after he had told her that he was scared for his life. The son-in-law also stated that Kulkarni had lodged a complaint with the police and also told them that he was being followed by his neighbour’s associates. He had also provided a list of licence plate numbers of vehicles, which he suspected were following him.
“It was reported to us that an 83-year-old man was walking, and a car hit him and escaped. We believed it to be a hit-and-run case, but when we examined carefully, it looked deliberate and that the car hit him while he was standing on the side. On that basis, we have taken a case of murder. He had been retired for 23 years, and we do not know why this could have happened,” said Mysuru Police Commissioner, Chandragupta. The case is being investigated by the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) for Narasimharaja sub-division and a post mortem report is awaited. Commissioner Chandragupta also added that the vehicle that hit Kulkarni did not have a licence plate.
Kulkarni, who retired as the assistant director in 1998, worked with the Intelligence Bureau in various capacities and also served a stint with RAW and a foreign intelligence agency. He also took up assignments in diplomatic missions and was a licensed pilot. He has also authored three books. Kulkarni had earlier filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Karnataka High Court questioning the legal status of the Intelligence Bureau, pointing that the lack of constitutional sanction for the intelligence body prevented audits and reform.
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