The Professor, who allegedly slit his wife’s throat after a domestic rift on Monday, was soft-spoken and was liked by almost everyone in the department he worked in.
One of his colleagues, not willing to be named, said that Kannan, the Professor and Head of the MBA department, could be approached anytime. He had earned a PhD in Business Administration besides a Masters in the same discipline and another Masters in Sciences, a colleague said.
Kannan had received several awards for excellence in teaching and was known for his achievements in academics. He had even obtained a Governor’s Award from Surjit Singh Barnala, he added.
“After killing Mohanambal, the Professor locked up Pooja, his daughter, so that she does not have to see her mother in that condition. He called up a friend who came and picked her up while she was asleep. The 13-year-old girl was later sent to a relative’s house. After realising what he had done, Kannan ensured that he was handed over to the police and did not make any attempt to run away,” the colleague said.
“Kannan rang up his house owner Rajagopal and informed him about the murder. He was then escorted to the police station by Rajagopal and his friend Arun Kumar. He said that several students were running errands on Monday for Kannan, who was arrested and remanded to judicial custody by a Court.
“It is unfortunate that it happened to Kannan. If not for the clash, the couple was fine. At least, Kannan could have thought about his daughter,” he rued. A neighbour said that they heard loud screams but did not bother to check as they knew it was a domestic issue within the family.
Inspector J Shivakumar told Express that the incident, according to the accused, happened on the spur of the moment. “We are pursuing other angles to the case. We will have to corroborate the confessions with evidence. We have also asked for call records which will also be perused in the investigation”, he said.