Front Page

Elderly couple done to death

Victims: Vasanta and A.S.N. Rangan who were found murdered in Bangalore on Saturday.

BANGALORE: An elderly couple were found murdered on Saturday in their Jayanagar 11th Main home which is surrounded by commercial establishments.

A.S.N. Rangan (79), retired Deputy Accountant General, and his wife Vasanta (75), were found with their throats slit in the house where they had been staying for the last 40 years.

Mr. Rangan was found dead in the bedroom and Ms. Vasanta in the kitchen, the police said.

The couple, who lived by themselves, have four children. The elder son, Narayan Prasad, is an engineer in Mysore and the younger son Ashwin works in a company in the U.S. Their daughters Usha and Jyothi stay in B.T.M Layout and Upendra Nagar in Bangalore.

The double murder came to light when Ms. Usha’s husband Shekar’s calls to Mr. Rangan on Friday evening and Saturday morning evoked no response. Mr. Shekar then called the medical shop opposite the couple’s home and asked the owner to check on them. On being told that no one was opening the door, Mr. Shekar rushed from BTM Layout to his in-laws’ house to find the garage door, which leads to the rear door of the house, open.

“I went in and found my mother-in-law dead in the kitchen. Mr. Rangan’s body was found in the bedroom,” Mr. Shekar told the media.

Joint Police Commissioner Gopal B. Hosur and Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) S. Ravi visited the spot. Mr. Ravi told presspersons that Mr. Rangan was in the process of selling his house — valued at several crores of rupees — and settling down with his son in Mysore. “Negotiations were going on,” Mr. Ravi said. The police suspect the murders could be linked to the negotiations.

The double murder has sent shockwaves throughout the neighbouring community and a large number of friends and relatives converged in the locality.

“He was a sociable person and interacted freely with many of us,” said Yogesh, who works in a shop near the couple’s home.

Mr. Rangan, who was a member of the Jayanagar Residents’ Welfare Association, often went around the locality to keep himself in the loop of problems and events.

Film director Nagathihalli Chandrashekar, who knew the family for over a decade, said he came in contact with the Rangans through their son Mr. Narayan Prasad, who built Mr. Chandrashekar’s house. “It was in the last six months that Mr. Rangan made up his mind to sell the property and live with his son. He believed in transparent negotiations and paid his taxes promptly,” Mr. Chandrashekar said, and expressed his concern over senior citizens continuing to be vulnerable targets in the city.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu