Ex-Karnataka DGP Found Murdered at Home; Wife Main Suspect
Retired Karnataka DGP Om Prakash was found murdered at home in Bengaluru. Police are probing domestic issues, with wife and daughter under investigation.
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Karnataka police are investigating the stabbing death of retired Director General of Police Om Prakash, whose body was discovered Sunday in his Bengaluru residence, authorities said. Prakash, 68, a 1981-batch Indian Police Service officer, suffered multiple wounds to his chest and abdomen and was found in a pool of blood on the ground-floor landing.
Police identified his wife, Pallavi, as the prime suspect after their son, Karthikesh, filed a complaint alleging a history of domestic threats. In the report, Karthikesh claims his mother had repeatedly warned she would kill his father. Prakash is said to have moved out to stay with his sister following the threats, only to be persuaded by his daughter, Kruthi, to return home two days before the killing.
On the evening of the murder, Karthikesh was at the Karnataka Golf Association in Domlur. He received a call from a neighbor around 7:30 p.m. alerting him to a disturbance at his family home. Rushing to the scene, he found his father’s body and noted the presence of a broken glass bottle and a kitchen knife beside him.
In his complaint, Karthikesh described ongoing clashes within the family. “My mother, Pallavi, and my sister, Kruthi, struggled with mental health issues and frequently confronted my father,” he wrote, adding that both women had engaged in physical altercations with him over the past year.
Investigators have questioned Pallavi and Kruthi for more than 12 hours but have not yet made any arrests. Preliminary findings indicate that Pallavi may have thrown chili powder at her husband, bound his limbs, struck him with a glass object and stabbed him repeatedly. According to unnamed officials, she then confessed to the killing during a conversation with another officer’s spouse, prompting an internal alert that reached Bengaluru police.
Authorities are also probing whether a dispute over family property played a role in the deadly confrontation and if Kruthi had any involvement in the planning or execution of the attack. No formal charges have been filed as detectives continue forensic analysis and interview additional witnesses.
Prakash, originally from Bihar, held a master’s degree in geology and was appointed Karnataka’s DGP in March 2025. His career also included leadership roles in the state Fire and Emergency Services and the Home Guards. He retired earlier this year after more than four decades of service.
