Bengaluru, April 21, 2025 – Former Karnataka DGP Bhaskar Rao, 68, was found dead at his Bengaluru residence on Sunday, allegedly smothered by his wife, Vandana Rao, 62, during a heated property dispute, police said. The Tumkur Road police registered a murder case under BNS Section 103 after Vandana confessed, citing a feud over their Rs 10 crore ancestral property in Mysuru as the trigger, per Hindustan Times. Rao, a 1982-batch IPS officer who served as Bengaluru Police Commissioner, was discovered unresponsive by their son, Arjun, prompting a swift investigation.
Vandana, a retired bank manager, reportedly admitted to suffocating Rao with a pillow after an argument escalated late Saturday (The Indian Express). “She planned it—anger over property division boiled over,” a senior officer told Times of India. The couple’s strained marriage, marked by disputes since Rao’s 2020 retirement, surfaced in neighbor accounts—three quarrels were reported in 2024 (Deccan Herald). Forensic evidence, including pillow fibers and bruising on Rao’s neck, corroborated the confession (The Hindu).
X buzzes with shock—“A DGP murdered at home?”—but some point to domestic tensions: “Property splits families” (X post). Rao’s tenure, tackling Bengaluru’s 2019 riots, earned him respect, though his 2023 AAP candidacy stirred controversy (Business Standard). Karnataka’s 2024 saw 1,200 domestic violence cases, 15% linked to property (NCRB). “Elite or not, greed kills,” a Bengaluru advocate told The Economic Times. Vandana, in custody, faces court today; Arjun, 35, demands justice (India Today).
The case, amid Mustafabad’s collapse and Seelampur’s stabbing, highlights urban India’s underbelly. For 140 crore Indians, it’s a stark reminder—will justice prevail, or expose deeper rifts?
