Bengaluru: Bengaluru Rural Additional Superintendent of Police (Addl SP) Venkatesh Prasanna has written to the Karnataka government seeking to be excluded from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to conduct a fresh investigation into the 2012 Sowjanya rape and murder case.
According to reports, Prasanna sought to step aside on moral grounds, citing the lack of trust and confidence expressed in him by Sowjanya’s family. The development comes shortly after the state government constituted the five-member SIT following the Supreme Court’s September 21, 2026, direction for a fresh probe.
Family had raised objections
Prasanna was among the five officers named in the SIT constituted by the Karnataka government on September 24. The team is headed by IGP N Shashikumar.
The other members are Mangaluru City Police Commissioner C H Sudheer Kumar Reddy, Intelligence SP Nisha James and CID SP Lokesh Jagalasar, along with Prasanna.
Sowjanya’s family had raised objections to Prasanna’s inclusion in the team. Following the objections, he has now requested the government to relieve him from the investigation.
Reports on his request differ on the precise grounds cited, with some stating that he referred to the family’s lack of confidence in him, while others describe the request as being made for personal reasons.
Supreme Court ordered fresh investigation
Seventeen-year-old Sowjanya was raped and murdered in Dharmasthala in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada on October 9, 2012.
On September 21, the Supreme Court directed the Karnataka government to constitute an SIT and conduct a fresh investigation into the case. The court directed that the investigation be completed within three months, followed by submission of the police report before the appropriate court.
The Karnataka government subsequently constituted the five-member SIT on September 24 in accordance with the court’s directions.
The Supreme Court’s order also specified that officers who had been part of the earlier investigations by the Belthangady police, CID or CBI should not be included in the new SIT. The court further clarified that its direction for a fresh probe should not be treated as expressing a prima facie opinion about the role of any individual.
SIT begins work
The fresh investigation is being undertaken after the case had previously been investigated by multiple agencies. The Supreme Court has given the newly constituted team a three-month timeframe to complete the probe.
With Prasanna seeking to step aside, the state government will now have to decide on his request and the composition of the team going forward.
The development comes as the SIT begins the process of examining the case afresh in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directions.