Defence scientist's wife found killed in Bangalore

A defence scientist's wife was found murdered Monday in their third floor apartment in the city suburbs, a police official said.

"Rajini Rajabala, 49, wife of Pakyadas, was found dead in a pool of blood around noon after she was fatally attacked with a chopper by an unidentified person," Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) P.S. Harsha told IANS here.

Police have registered a case of murder and set up a special team to crack the case.

Pakyadas is a scientist in the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which operates a dozen defence units here.

"We have detained a suspect for interrogation after recovering a chopper from him that seemed to have been used in the crime," Harsha said.

Preliminary investigation also revealed that the victim's gold chain was missing from her body.

The scientist's official quarter is located in a defence colony in C.V. Raman Nagar, a secured area with round-the-clock guards.

The victim was alone at home when the incident occurred, as Pakyadas was at office and their two children, a son and daughter, were away in college.

"We got some positive leads on the unfortunate incident and hope to crack the case soon. As the investigation is under progress, we cannot reveal more details," Harsha added.

The latest murder came to light nearly a week after a retired defence scientist and his wife were found murdered in their house in Ramamurthy Nagar in the city's eastern suburb on the night of March 4.

The victims were identified as Pattabhi Raman Naidu,73, who retired from the state-run Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE) under the DRDO, and Indira, 68.

The elderly couple, who originally hailed from Tirupati in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, was in their own house, while their only son, Chandrashekar, 45, a lab technician in a city private college, was away when the gruesome crime took place.