Who Was Om Prakash, Karnataka Ex-Police Chief Allegedly Murdered By Wife

Former Karnataka police chief Om Prakash was found murdered at his Bengaluru home on Sunday, with multiple stab wounds to his chest and abdomen. Blood was found across the floor where his body lay, police said.

According to investigators, his wife, Pallavi, fought with him over a property dispute earlier that day. During the argument, she allegedly threw chilli powder at the 68-year-old, tied him up, and stabbed him with a knife and a glass bottle.

After the murder, Pallavi reportedly called the wife of a police officer and confessed to the crime. The officer then informed the police, who rushed to the scene and detained Pallavi and her daughter. Both have been interrogated for over 12 hours.

Pallavi is the prime suspect. Police are probing whether the daughter was involved. A case has been filed based on a complaint from Om Prakash's son.

Who Was Om Prakash?

1. Om Prakash was born in January 1957 in the Piparsi village of Bihar's Champaran district.
2. He held a Master's degree in Geology before joining the police service.
3. In 1981, he joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) as part of that year's batch.
4. He began his policing career as the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Harapanahalli and later served in the same role in Ballari district, Karnataka.
5. He was appointed Superintendent of Police (SP) in multiple districts, including Shivamogga, Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, and Kalaburagi.
6. From 2004 to 2006, when senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge was Karnataka's Transport Minister, Om Prakash served as the Commissioner for Transport and Road Safety.
7. Over the years, he held key roles in the State Lokayukta, Crime Investigation Department (CID), and Fire and Emergency Services.

On March 1, 2015, he was appointed as the Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) of Karnataka. His appointment was controversial, as it allegedly bypassed the seniority of 1979-batch IPS officer Sushant Mahapatra, who unsuccessfully challenged the promotion in court.

Months into his term as DGP, he became one of the first high-profile victims of cyber fraud when a scammer posing as an ICICI Bank employee tricked him into sharing his credit card details and stole Rs 10,000. Om Prakash later claimed he had "deliberately" lost the money to help trace the fraud network.

In 2015, his son Karthikesh Omprakash came under scrutiny for business links with a relative of N Narasimha Murthy, a police clerk arrested in the Lokayukta corruption scam. Karthikesh was a partner in a firm that received controversial land allotment for quarrying in the Ramanagara district. Om Prakash denied involvement and said it was his son's private matter.

Om Prakash retired from service in January 2017 on superannuation, completing nearly 36 years in the police force.