Bank manager from Padukone found smothered to death

September 26, 2011

Bank

Bangalore, September 26: A 56-year-old bank manager was strangled to death inside his residence in Jayanagar police limits. The victim Shankar Poojari seems to have been killed late on Saturday night, police said.

The incident came to light when a hotel employee visited his house around 5pm on Sunday. Shankar didn't cook at home and used to have his meals at the hotel.

The body was found in the passage near the bedroom. Police suspect it to be a murder connected with his job as Shankar did not have any valuables at home. The front door was half open, indicating that someone known to Shankar had entered the house, police said.

Hailing from Padukone in Dakshina Kannada, Shankar settled in Mumbai. He had come to the city just 18 months back. While his wife and daughter lived in Mumbai, Shankar was living alone in a two-bedroom rented house, located near Yedyur lake. He was the chief manager of a bank with its head office on MG Road.

Yogesh Kumar, a relative, informed that Shankar was a soft-spoken and god-fearing man. "I am sure that he had no enemies. Even at the workplace, colleagues say, he spoke less and was well-mannered,'' he said.

Shankar used to visit a nearby hotel regularly. "When at home, he used to have breakfast, lunch and dinner in the hotel, owned by his relative. The hotel staff was surprised to see that Shankar did not appear on Sunday," Yogesh said. In the evening, an employee visited his house around five. "The front door was half open. I called his name, but got no answer. Then I went inside and saw his body in the passage," said the employee to police.

TV Volume High

The neighbours said, ''The TV volume was very high in the night. He never had the habit of watching TV late in the night. We wondered why he had kept the volume so high. This was between 9pm and 11pm. We did not hear any other noise.''

Deputy Commissioner of police-South division Sonia Narang suspected that some known persons had committed the crime. "We are checking on his mobile calls and other details. The main door is intact and one room has been ransacked,'' she said.

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News Network
January 23,2026

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot read only three lines from the 122-paragraph address prepared by the Congress-led state government while addressing the joint session of the Legislature on Thursday, effectively bypassing large sections critical of the BJP-led Union government.

The omitted portions of the customary Governor’s address outlined what the state government described as a “suppressive situation in economic and policy matters” under India’s federal framework. The speech also sharply criticised the Centre’s move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, commonly referred to as the VB-GRAM (G) Act.

Governor Gehlot had earlier conveyed his objection to several paragraphs that were explicitly critical of the Union government. On Thursday, he confined himself to the opening lines — “I extend a warm welcome to all of you to the joint session of the State legislature. I am extremely pleased to address this august House” — before jumping directly to the concluding sentence of the final paragraph.

He ended the address by reading the last line of paragraph 122: “Overall, my government is firmly committed to doubling the pace of the State’s economic, social and physical development. Jai Hind — Jai Karnataka.”

According to the prepared speech, the Karnataka government demanded the scrapping of the VB-GRAM (G) Act, describing it as “contractor-centric” and detrimental to rural livelihoods, and called for the full restoration of MGNREGA. The state government argued that the new law undermines decentralisation, weakens labour protections, and centralises decision-making in violation of constitutional norms.

Key points from the unread sections of the speech:

•    Karnataka facing a “suppressive” economic and policy environment within the federal system

•    Repeal of MGNREGA described as a blow to rural livelihoods

•    VB-GRAM (G) Act accused of protecting corporate and contractor interests

•    New law alleged to weaken decentralised governance

•    Decision-making said to be imposed by the Centre without consulting states

•    Rights of Adivasis, women, backward classes and agrarian communities curtailed

•    Labourers allegedly placed under contractor control

•    States facing mounting fiscal stress due to central policies

•    VB-GRAM (G) Act accused of enabling large-scale corruption

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