With Sasikala in Bengaluru jail, serial killer Cyanide Mallika shifted out

Bengaluru: Convicted serial killer and Jayalalithaa fan KD Kempamma, also known as Cyanide Mallika, was shifted to Hindalga prison in Belagavi, north Karnataka, earlier this week.

Cyanide Mallika had last week made headlines because she was lodged in Parapanna Agrahara prison, where AIADMK chief VK Sasikala Natarajan is currently put up. What’s more, Mallika was held in the cell next to Sasikala’s.

According to reports, Mallika was shifted out of Parapanna Agrahara because her presence there was considered by some as a threat to Sasikala’s life.

'Cyanide' Mallika, possibly the country's first woman serial killer, is in jail for killing six women. She allegedly identified rich women frequenting temples in and around Bengaluru, befriended them and killed them using cyanide before making off with their jewellery. She was arrested in 2008 and convicted in many cases.

While security officials felt that Mallika posed a threat to Sasikala in the Agrahara jail, media reports suggested the two had formed a cordial relationship.

"In fact, she would not allow Sasikala to stand in queue during meal time. She used to bring the food for her," a report said quoting sources.

The jail officials were uneasy at this development, and Mallika was shifted one day without informing her.

Incidentally, Sasikala is housed in the same cell where another high-profile murderer, advocate Shubha Shankarnarayan, had been lodged for years. Shubha was convicted of murdering her techie-fiance in collusion with her boyfriend and his aides in 2003, said reports.

The shifting of Cyanide Mallika from the Bengaluru jail comes even as the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu, under new CM Edappadi Palanisamy, is said to be making efforts to get Sasikala shifted to a prison in Tamil Nadu.