ERODE: Police broke into the burning house of Karnataka cadre IPS officer M Arun Rangarajan, 38, at Gobichettipalayam and arrested him on Wednesday evening for assaulting his live-in partner, who is a former sub-inspector.
Police said Rangarajan, who is under suspension, had set the house on fire, allegedly in a bid to kill himself.
He and his partner Sujatha, 38, had been estranged since February when he had assaulted her when they were doing the rounds of temples in Tamil Nadu.
Police had intervened then to sort the matter though no complaint was filed. When the couple returned to Rangarajan's parents house in Gobichettipalayam, he again assaulted Sujatha resulting in her hospitalisation in February.
Police registered a case against him and a local court granted him bail. The Karnataka govt placed him under suspension.
Rangarajan had been living with his parents ever since. On Sunday, Sujatha returned to his house where they again started quarrelling. On Wednesday, their confrontation escalated.
"Arun attempted to assault Sujatha with an iron rod," said P Kamaraj, Gobichettipalayam police inspector. Sujatha evaded his attack and notified the cops.
When police arrived at the scene, they found Rangarajan had set fire to the house after locking himself inside. Police extinguished the flames and broke into the house.
In a fit of rage, Arun tried to attack inspector Kamaraj but was subdued and arrested. He was sent to Coimbatore central prison under judicial remand.
Rangarajan, son of a retired sanitary inspector named Matheswaran, became an IPS officer in 2012 in the Chhattisgarh cadre. He married Elakkiya, another IPS officer from Chhattisgarh, and they had two children.
Both of them later transferred to Karnataka, where he was appointed superintendent of police (internal security) for Kalaburagi district.
There he began an extramarital relationship with Sujatha, a police sub-inspector in the same district. Sujatha's husband, Kandappa, also a police inspector, reported the affair to higher authorities, leading to Arun's transfer to Karwar district.
Subsequently, Elakkiya divorced Rangarajan. And, Sujatha ended her marriage with Kandappa and began living with Rangarajan.
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