Bengaluru murder: Sacked driver confesses to killing geologist
Pratima, found murdered on Sunday morning, is said to have filed a report against a former minister in the erstwhile BJP government over illegal mining.
The Bengaluru Police, who are investigating the murder of a woman government officer, on Monday (November 6) arrested her former driver, and he has confessed to killing her.
KS Pratima, 45, who worked as deputy director of the Karnataka mining and geology department, was found murdered on Sunday morning at her flat in Bengaluru.
She was widely seen as a brave and honest officer who lived alone. She is said to have filed a report against a former minister in the erstwhile BJP government over illegal mining.
A police officer was quoted as saying in media reports that Kiran reportedly did not mend his ways even after being pulled up by Pratima, leading to his sacking.
Illegal mining
Earlier, one police officer suggested that the officer’s bravery in going against the powerful stone mining mafia was one of the angles being probed. In July 2023, two months after the Congress ousted a BJP government, the officer submitted a complaint to her department regarding illegal stone mining in four acres of land in Hunasamaranahalli village of Bangalore City district.
The locals had complained that the mining was being done without permission from the department and the rocks were being blasted using explosives illegally. Pratima had recently raided and inspected the quarry. She banned illegal stone mining in that area. In addition, she told her department the illegal mining had caused the government a loss of Rs 25.35 lakhs. She also filed a private case in a court in Devanahalli against two men, including MLA and former minister N Munirathna, on charges of illegal stone mining.
Copies of the site inspection report given by Pratima in the same case are circulating on social media. The report has been shared by a person who got it under the Right to Information Act.
Family issues
Bengaluru Rural Deputy Commissioner KA Dayanand said: "Pratima was an efficient and courageous officer and her death is shocking. She attended a meeting of officials recently regarding illegal mining. All people were instructed to stop illegal mining. Accordingly, Pratima had investigated and submitted a report in a case of illegal mining."
Karnataka Congress spokesperson Soorya Mukund Raj has urged the police to investigate the illegal stone mining mafia angle.
Originally from Thirthahalli taluk of Shimoga district, Pratima joined her department in 2008. She married an agriculturist 18 years ago. She was employed in Bangalore Rural district.
A few years ago, there was reportedly a rift in her marriage. Thus, the couple was separated by mutual agreement. But the pair had reportedly overcome their differences in recent times.
