Bengaluru: A 36-year-old businessman allegedly shot dead his parents, wife and son before killing himself near Bandipur in the south Indian state of Karnataka, police said on Friday.
“Omprakash and his four-member family appear to have entered into a suicide pact, unable to bear the harassment of debtors and the burden of mounting losses from his businesses, including a call centre, real estate and mining at Mysuru and Bengaluru,” Chamarajanagar Superintendent of Police H.D. Anand Kumar told IANS on phone.
Bandipur is 220km southwest of Bengaluru on the way to popular hill station Ooty in Tamil Nadu.
Citing a preliminary report of the incident and visuals taken of the crime scene, Kumar said that though Omprakash and his family live in Mysuru, they drove to a rented farmhouse near Bandipur for an overnight stay on Thursday. He sent away his driver and an attendant, asking them to return the next morning. After dinner, the family went to a field where Omprakash allegedly shot his parents, wife and son, before shooting himself with a pistol in the wee hours.
Omprakash’s father Nagaraja was 65 while his mother was 60. His 36-year-old wife Nikitha was eight months pregnant. His son Aryan Krishna was four.
“The incident came to light when Omprakash’s driver and attendant returned to the farmhouse earlier in the day and found them missing inside. On searching around, the two found their bullet-ridden bodies in a grass field. They informed the police and an FIR was filed based on their deposition,” Kumar said.
The 0.32-inch bore pistol which Omprakash used is a licensed firearm of his gunman that was in his car.
“The five bodies were handed over to Omprakash’s sister after autopsy at a state-run hospital and were taken on road to Mysuru for the last rites,” added Kumar.
