BBA student’s murder: Siddaramaiah transfers case to CID

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday transferred the 20-year-old BBA student’s murder case from the Subramanyapura police to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Earlier, the South Police arrested a minor in connection with the murder.

A well-placed source in the CID told DH that they have received the case, but are yet to officially take over from the Subramanyapura police.

On May 15, Prabuddha R, the 20-year-old student, was found dead with her wrist slit in the bathroom of her house in Padmanabhanagar, South Bengaluru, under the Subramanyapura police station limits. She also had minor cuts on her neck.

While the police initially suspected suicide, further investigations led to the arrest of a 14-year-old boy, who is a friend of Prabuddha’s brother.  

Sowmya KR, Prabuddha’s mother and a social worker, met Siddaramaiah and requested a CID probe into her daughter’s murder.

Sowmya alleged that the police were non-cooperative during the probe and that they deliberately showed negligence, and colluded with the suspect’s parents to destroy evidence in the case.

Sowmya also claimed to have received threats.

“The suspect’s father runs a bar in the local police station limits. Hence, he has connections within the police force and has destroyed evidence. The police conducted a mahazar for the sake of doing it and didn’t take any action,” Sowmya wrote.

She said the boy secured bail in just 10 days and is roaming free after walking out of a juvenile home.

During the preliminary probe, the police found no sign of an intruder at the crime scene and filed an unnatural death report. But Sowmya persuaded the police to probe further, claiming Prabuddha would not take such an extreme step.

Case history

Further police investigations revealed that the minor allegedly entered their house and killed her.

Investigators told DH that the minor boy stole Rs 2,000 from Prabuddha’s purse and killed her when she confronted him. When DH spoke to Sowmya after the boy’s arrest, she expressed gratitude to the investigators while also raising suspicions about the minor having an accomplice.

“I believe the police; they have supported me. They will investigate thoroughly, and justice will be met. But he couldn’t have done it alone and would surely had an accomplice."