High court sentences four to life in IISc professor triple murder case

Bengaluru: Seventeen years after the sensational triple murder of an IISc professor and his family in Bengaluru, the Karnataka High Court has sentenced four migrant workers to life imprisonment, overturning their earlier acquittal by a sessions court.

A division bench headed by Justice H.P. Sandesh allowed the prosecution’s appeal challenging the order of the 65th City Civil and Sessions Court, which had acquitted the accused earlier. The High Court found the accused guilty and awarded life imprisonment.

Those convicted include Deepak Haldar and his wife Suchitra Haldar from West Bengal’s 24 Parganas district, along with Mohammed Sarbal and Bidhan Shikari. According to the prosecution, the accused murdered the retired IISc professor Purushottam Lal Sachdeva (71), his wife Rita (62), and their son Munna (35).

The incident took place on February 16, 2009, at their residence on 80 Feet Road in RT Nagar. Investigators had alleged that the accused strangled the three victims to death before fleeing with cash and gold ornaments from the house.

The court observed that the primary motive behind the crime was robbery. The first two accused, Deepak Haldar and Suchitra Haldar, had been working as domestic help in the victims’ residence, which helped them gain access to the house.

In its judgment, the bench noted that the brutal killing of three innocent people for money posed a serious threat to social harmony and public safety. The court directed the four accused, who are currently out on bail, to surrender before the trial court within two weeks and serve the remaining sentence in prison.

The High Court also expressed concern over increasing crimes involving migrant workers employed in domestic roles. It directed the state government to strengthen monitoring mechanisms and introduce preventive measures.

The bench suggested stricter verification of migrant workers and called for the creation of a registration portal so that their identity and background details can be easily verified by authorities and the public.

The court further directed that a copy of the order be sent to the state government’s chief secretary, stressing the need to implement labour and criminal laws effectively to prevent similar incidents in the future.