A 36-year-old businessman from Mysuru shot his four family members before pulling the trigger on himself in Gundlupet, about 60 km from here, early on Friday.
According to the police, Omkar, who had taken to producing animation films after his IT venture failed, shot his wife Nikitha, son Arya Krishna, father Nagaraj, and mother Hemaraj, 60, with a pistol. Later, he shot himself with the same firearm. Superintendent of Police, Chamarajanagar, Anand Kumar, told reporters Omkar, who was under stress on account of debts, resorted to the extreme step between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on a farmland along the Mysuru-Ooty highway on the outskirts of Gundlupet.
The family had left Mysuru on Tuesday in two vehicles along with two drivers and had stayed at a friend’s farmhouse near Bandipur forests before checking into a lodge on the Mysuru-Kozhikode highway on Thursday. Without informing the drivers, the family drove out in the middle of the night in an SUV they had engaged for the trip.
In the middle of the night, one of the drivers received a call from Omkar, who asked him to find the SUV parked on the highway near Gundlupet town.
Mr. Anand Kumar said preliminary investigation suggested that it was a suicide pact as there was no evidence of resistance from the family members.
According to police, Omkar did not possess a weapon’s licence and had engaged three gunmen to provide him security. The firearm used in the crime belonged to one of the gunmen he had engaged, said Mr. Anand Kumar. “It is .32 bore pistol manufactured at the government ordnance factory,” he said.
“He has an elder sister and we are collecting information from her. We have also summoned the gunman to gather information,” he added.
Prima facie , Mr. Anand Kumar said, the crime had been committed on account of the pressure he was facing from his creditors. “We are still gathering information on the amount of loans he had taken and the amount he was yet to return.”
(Those in distress or are having suicidal tendencies can call Arogya Sahayavani Ph.: 104 for help)
