Senior KAS officer S.P. Mahantesh (48), deputy director of Co-operative Societies’ audit department, Bengaluru Rural division, who was battling for life for five days after he was brutally assaulted by a group of armed unidentified assailants, died of his injuries on Sunday morning.
He suffered a cardiac arrest around 5.30 am. Though he was immediately attended to by the doctors, he could not be saved. He was declared dead an hour later. Mr Mahantesh’s head injury was the main reason for his death and the doctors said rain water had entered his skull, leading to further complications.
On Sunday, his body was shifted to Bowring Hospital at 10 am for autopsy and from there to his house in Vittal Nagar near the T.R. Mill in Chamarajpet by 12.15 pm. The last rites were carried out at the cemetery next to T.R. Mill on Sunday evening with several people attending the ceremony.
Four months ago, Mr Mahantesh had escaped another attack on Bannerghatta Road. A group of unidentified men had followed his car and tried to attack him. He had revealed this only to his wife K.S. Purnima. It is said that he was under constant threat and received calls late in the night. Purnima said she heard him shout at someone on the other side of the phone line several times. The officer had told her that he was investigating a case involving several important people, but did not give her the names. The officer is survived by his father, Puttanaiah (73), a retired senior official with the Karnataka Municipal Corporation, his mother Vijayamma (65), wife Purnima and two daughters Ragini (10) and Deepika (8). Mr Mahantesh was to celebrate his sixteenth wedding anniversary and the elder daughter ten-year-old Ragini’s birthday on Saturday.
Mr Mahantesh was rushed to Mallige Hospital around 9.30 pm on May 15 in a critical condition. He was lying unattended on the road next to Atria Hotel when some passersby noticed him and shifted him to the hospital. He was returning home after finishing an audit of a cooperative society in Sahakarnagar when the incident occurred.
Describing the incident as unfortunate, chief minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda said the probe into the murder has been intensified and the accused would be nabbed soon. “The incident is unfortunate and has hurt the sentiments of the people and the government,” he said, adding the family would be sanctioned solatium.
Home minister R. Ashok said the police have got some clues. “The police are investigating the case and are looking at certain angles to nab killers,” he told reporters here
The family members wanted an investigation by independent agencies, either the CBI or Crime Investigation Department.