1994 Vamanjoor murder case: Victim's family cite fear of lives, demand police protection

The kin of the four persons killed by Praveen Kumar in a sensational murder case at Vamanjoor in 1994 have yet again appealed to the police and state government to offer protection as they fear a threat to their lives following his release from jail.

Praveen Kumar (now 60-years-old), a resident of Uppinangadi Periyadka in Dakshina Kannada district, had murdered his aunt (father’s sister) Appi Sherigarthi, her son Govinda, daughter Shakuntala and Shakuntala’s daughter Deepika in Vanmanjoor on the midnight of February 23, 1994, for stealing gold and other valuables. He had been awarded a death sentence which was later commuted to life imprisonment.

In the year 2022, the state government decided to release Kumar, among other prisoners on the occasion of Independence Day on grounds of good conduct and had sought an opinion from the district authorities.

Notably, the victim’s family, including Kumar’s wife had voiced their opposition against his release with the police. However as there was no response, they later submitted a petition to the Commissioner of Police, Home Minister, and Governor requesting that Kumar not be released from prison.

Meanwhile, Kumar was released from prison in May last year and he allegedly made a call to his wife on November 7 night and threatened her. Though the police were intimated about this, they have not visited us, the family alleged.

“Kumar murdered his relatives and will not hesitate to do so again. There is also a fear of enmity. There are many senior citizens in the family,” they said demanding police protection.

The family appealed to the police to offer them protection and keep a vigil on Kumar’s movements.

It is gathered that Praveen is running a tailor shop near Hindalaga Jail in Belgavi. His family members stated that depicting him as a good person would send a bad message to society and requested concerned authorities to pay attention to this.