MYSURU: A businessman from Mysuru allegedly killed himself after shooting his aged parents, wife and six-year-old son in what seems to be a suicide pact. The incident occurred in Gundlupet around 3 am on Friday. The bodies were found in an agricultural field on the Gundlupet- Ooty road. The deceased have been identified as Omprakash Bhattacharya (38), his father Jagadish Bhattacharya (70), mother Hemaraju (60), wife Nikita (28) and son Arya Krishna.
They were residents of Dattagalli, near the Outer Ring Road junction in Mysuru. Omprakash’s father was an astrologer. His wife Nikita was eight months pregnant. According to police, all four were shot at point blank range in the forehead, before Omprakash shot himself in his mouth. A pistol found next to his body has been identified as a .32 calibre GSF Ashani make. According to investigating officers, the pistol belonged to Omprakash’s personal bodyguard Nagesh, an ex-serviceman hailing from Hassan. As Nagesh was visiting his hometown, Omprakash had asked to keep the gun with him for his safety. Nagesh was one of five security guards hired by Omprakash. The incident came to light when Omprakash’s driver Suresh got a call on his cellphone around 3 am. His boss went on to ask him for forgiveness and said, “We have failed miserably in life. We have parked the Innova near the same spot beside a field where we had lunch on Thursday. The key is on the wiper, please collect it.”
A petrified Suresh, who was staying in a separate lodge, rushed to the spot in a car belonging to his friend Chetan and found the car. However, the family was not seen at the spot. They drove back towards Gundlupet and informed the highway patrol police. Later, they visited the lodge in town where the family was staying, only to learn that they had checked out. Returning to the original spot, they found the bodies in the field. Omprakash was a native of Tumakuru who had moved to Mysuru three years back with the dream of being a successful entrepreneur. Before moving to Mysuru, he had also stayed in Chikkaballapur for a short while.
He set up G V Intech and Vibran FX Animation Studio in Mysuru, but did not find success. He had allegedly taken loans from various quarters but had failed to make good returns on his business. Besides these companies, Omprakash also produced an animation movie and involved himself in real estate, failing to get good returns on his investment. Recently, he sold furniture and other equipment to repay a part of his loans, police said. His family had also recently told their newspaper vendor that they were moving out of the country, leading the police to believe that this might have been planned. Superintendent of Police HD Ananda Kumar said, “According to preliminary investigations, it is suspected that they all willingly died as there were no traces of resistance.”