Flower garden has been a ‘gangster haven’ for two decades

The area, situated behind Vinayaka Theatre, is surrounded by four police stations

The spot where the murder occurred in Cottonpet.

Flower garden, the area under Cottonpet limits which recently saw the brutal murder of former councillor Rekha Kadiresh in broad daylight, has a two-decade history of bloody gang wars and murders, raising questions about police action to contain crime in the area.

Though the police acted swiftly in the former councillor’s murder case and arrested the accused, the gruesome crime has caused considerable embarrassment to the police as the area, situated behind Vinayaka Theatre on Mysuru Road, is surrounded by four police stations. This includes the CCB head office with the Organised Crime Wing, which has been accused of failing to contain rowdy activities in its backyard .

Admitting failure on their part, a senior police officer, on condition of anonymity, said that the murder of Rekha Kadiresh was hard to prevent as family members were involved. However, the police failed to notice the growing resentment between Rekha and others due to a weak intelligence network and improper documentation, which is basic to keep tabs on anti-social elements and gangs.

Another significant factor is that the police revoked the rowdy-sheet against Peter - the accused - in 2018 despite there being half a dozen cases of murder, robbery and assault pending against him. After the death of Kadiresh, Rekha kept Peter away and did not support him financially. Upset about this, Peter got into his old drug peddling business to eke out a living before he was offered the job, allegedly by Mala, to eliminate Rekha, a police officer, said. With Rekha’s murder and Peter’s arrest, the police are going to reopen the rowdy sheet against him.

The flower garden area, with pockets such as Anjinappa Garden, Bhakshi Garden, Binny Mill, Peer Boundary, Tipunagar and Anandapura, has been dominated by gangs for the last two decades, running drug peddling and illicit liquor business. It started in 2000 with Alaimani, a notorious gangster who was killed in an encounter for a series of robberies, rapes and peddling.

However, despite having knowledge and documentation of every gang and gangster, the police have not been able to prevent crimes in the area, it is alleged.

The police have now stepped up security in the area following the recent murder.

Mala and Arul in custody

Meanwhile, the West Division police have taken Mala, Kadiresh’s sister and her son Arul into custody till July 2 to probe in detail about the reason behind the gruesome murder of Rekha Kadiresh in front of her office on Thursday. Mala and Arul are prime accused in the case.