Karnataka Govt suspends 3 police inspectors for falsely implicating tribal man in wife's murder
The Karnataka Government Sunday suspended three police officers for falsely implicating a tribal man on the charge of killing his wife in the state's Kodagu district in 2021.
Kurubara Suresh, 35, a labourer from a tribal community, was arrested in June 2021 for 'killing' his wife, and spent two years in jail. However, later it was found that his wife was alive, and had been living with her boyfriend.
The police officers who have been suspended are B G Prakash, Mahesh Kumar, and Prakash Yathinamani, inspectors in Kushalanagar and Yelawala and Jayapura, respectively. Vishnuvardhana N, Superintendent of Police, Mysuru, confirmed to The Indian Express that the officers had been suspended, and an inquiry was pending.
Reacting to the suspension order, B S Pandu Poojari, the lawyer who represents Suresh, said they were not satisfied with the suspension order. 'We want the government to initiate criminal proceedings against those accused officials to give justice to the victim,' he added.\
Suresh filed a missing-person complaint at the Kushalnagar Rural Police Station in Kodagu district after his wife, Mallige, went missing in November 2020. He was arrested by the Bettadapura police in Mysuru district on charges of murdering his wife after a woman's skeleton was discovered, leading to his two-year-long incarceration. He was released on bail in September 2024.
On April 1 this year, Suresh's friends found out that his wife was alive, and had been with her boyfriend 30 km away from their village. They immediately informed the police.
Later, the Mysuru district court directed the police to submit a report. Mallige appeared before the judge, and stated that his wife was alive. The court then ordered the police to drop the charges against Suresh, and remove his name as accused or suspect from the chargesheet.
Recently, he also approached the Karnataka High Court seeking Rs 5 crore in compensation after spending nearly 18 months in jail following his wrongful arrest. The police are yet to ascertain the identity of the body, which they discovered in an area under the Bettadapura police limits.
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