Extraordinary developments followed the death of 82-year-old Ananda Gowri on Saturday when her advocate-daughter tried to cremate the body inside her house, only to be prevented by outraged neighbours who called the police.
The police doused the fire, shifted the body to Victoria Hospital and arrested Mamatha Engineer, a 48-year-old spinster at her home in the Appu Rao compound off fifth main road of Chamarjapet.
Ms. Gowri, who stayed with Ms. Engineer, leaves behind four children, including two daughters who live in London, and her son who stays on the first floor of the building. The police said there was property dispute among the siblings.
Ms. Engineer initially tried to cremate the body on the vacant site attached to her house, also owned by her mother. On hearing the news, her brother and the public tried to dissuade her. When their efforts failed, they called the police. Ms. Engineer immediately shifted the body inside the house, locked it from the inside and allegedly set it on fire in the passage by dumping some kerosene-soaked pillows, mattress and old clothes on it, a neighbour said.
“We broke the window panes and doused the fire. We then took the half-burnt body for post-mortem,” said Kempe Gowda Nagar police inspector H.K. Ramesh Kumar.
Speaking to presspersons, Ms. Engineer said: “It was my mother’s wish to be cremated on the vacant land.”
A case has been registered against her, Mr. Ramesh said.
Knocked down
Tension gripped Old Madras Road for a while after a young man was fatally knocked down by a goods vehicle near the Tin Factory on Saturday.
The man has been identified as S. Anil Kumar (21), a steel company employee, who was staying with his grandmother in Sampangiramanagar.
Following the accident, a large number of passers-by and local people gathered at the spot and pelted stones at the policemen and heavy vehicles.
Four constables of the K.R. Puram police station were injured.
The situation led to a traffic jam and the police caned the protesters.
According to the public, the police reached the spot a full two hours after the incident.
The driver of the goods vehicle fled from the spot.
Kidnap charge
The Wilson Garden police arrested Mallesh and Gopinath, employees of an automobile showroom, for allegedly kidnapping Rayappa, a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) driver, in full public view on Friday.
The police raided a godown near Koodlu Gate where the driver was confined.
The duo was driving to Koodlu Gate to deliver a brand new vehicle to a customer when Rayappa’s bus grazed it, causing some damage and a scratch.
The two persons dragged him out of the bus and demanded Rs. 5,000 as compensation.
When Rayappa told them that he did not have the money and asked them to come to the police station, the accused forced him into the car and took him to the godown, the police said.
Even as some 40 passengers looked on, the public called the police.
Robbed
Three men on a motorcycle robbed Kamalesh B. Sait Lal, a businessman, of Rs. 3.8 lakh near Gopalapura in Magadi Road police limits on Friday after they dashed their vehicle against his.
