Belagavi city police have launched an investigation into the death of a businessman, exhuming his body for an autopsy after his daughter raised suspicions about her mother’s involvement.
Santosh Padmannavar, 47, passed away on October 9. His daughter, Sanjana Padmannavar, 18, who was studying in Bengaluru, returned home for the cremation, which was conducted according to Lingayat tradition. Initially, she was informed that her father had died from a cardiac arrest and that his eyes were donated per his wishes. However, Sanjana found it hard to believe that her healthy father could have suffered a heart attack.
Her suspicions grew when she discovered that all the CCTV footage from their home had been deleted while she was attempting to review it. With the help of relatives, she filed a police complaint suspecting her mother, Uma, might be involved.
Following her complaint, police exhumed Santosh’s body for an autopsy. CCTV footage from neighbors showed two individuals entering their house around the time of his death.
Police are currently questioning Uma and two other individuals. “We are interrogating four people, including two maids. We expect to have a clearer understanding once we receive the autopsy report,” said Belagavi Police Commissioner Ida Martin Marbaniang.
Authorities suspect that the circumstances surrounding the death may indicate foul play, but further details are anticipated from the postmortem report.
