Man ‘drowned’ in debts lands in jail along with wife

Man ‘drowned’ in debts lands in jail along with wife

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, May 17, 2012: Mangalore Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh told reporters at a press conference held in Mangalore on May 17, Thursday that the police department has filed a case against Shrinivas Padakanayya, his wife Swathi, and Swathi’s parents for misleading the police. 

He said that Swathi misled the police by making false statements that her husband had fallen into River Phalguni after his scooter skidded near the bridge. Under the directions of his wife, Padakanayya had also made false statements to the police at Padmavathi Hospital in Suratkal that a group of three unknown people arrived in a Tata Sumo, rescued him from the river, stole his cheque, shaved his head, and abandoned him in Kundapur. The commissioner said that Padakanayya had shaved his head to hide his identity. 

The commissioner also said that police investigations revealed that Padakanayya has run into huge losses in his share business. The police also found out that he had used his ATM card to withdraw Rs. 700 from the SBI ATM at Shringeri on May 12 and Rs. 100 from the SBI ATM at Murudeshwar. Video footages from the ATM clearly show him drawing the cash. 

When the police interrogated Padakanayya, he broke down and said that he and his wife enacted this drama because their financial problems had stressed them out. 

The Coast Guard, the police department, and the KIOCL diving team had conduced search operations in River Phalguni for 4 days. Later, the behavior of Swathi and her parents made the police suspicious. Instead of cooperating with the police, they threatened to file a case against the police. Besides, the police realized that Padakanayya could not have fallen into the river as the river is far away from the road. The police began investigating the case in earnest and finally discovered the truth, he said.