Hostile witness identifies butcher knife used in RTI activist Vinayaka Baliga murder
The hearing into RTI activist Vinayaka Baliga murder case has reached a decisive stage. Identifying of the butcher knife used in the murder, by the shop keeper who had sold it to the accused killers has made the case stronger. There are a total of 7 accused in the murder case, including NaMo brigade founder Naresh Shenoy who is the main accused. As the accused were very influential, major witnesses had given statements in their favour which had made the case weaker. The shop keeper who had sold the murder weapon had turned a hostile witness too. But S Balan, the special prosecutor has succeeded in bringing out the truth from these hostile witnesses by cross-examination in the court.
Shailesh, the 6th accused in the case, had bought the butcher knife from Bastikar Hardware in Kulur with an intention to murder Vinayaka Baliga. Police had included Devadas Shenoy, owner of the shop who had sold the murder weapon, as a witness in the case. “Accused Shailesh had purchased the knife at our shop. The knife confiscated by the police from the accused and the knife sold by me are one and the same”, Shenoy had stated during police enquiry. The statement was included in the charge sheet by the police and Devadas Shenoy was cited as the witness.
But Devadas Shenoy turned hostile in the court and denied selling the murder weapon to the accused. “I only sell building materials. The knife confiscated from the police is not from my shop. I haven’t seen the accused Shailesh [earlier]”, he had stated. As the case wouldn’t have stood scrutiny if the murder weapon was declared fake, the Special Public Prosecutor had requested permission with the court for a cross examination. After being permitted, the prosecutor conducted a long cross examination on April 24 which has been recorded in 8 pages.
In the crucial stage of the cross examination, witness Devdas Shenoy agreed that the police found 10-15 similar knifes in his shops while they paid him a visit during initial enquiry. He told the prosecutor that even though he didn’t know where these knives were supplied from, the price on their handles were written by his assistants in the shop, as directed by him and the price of the murder weapon confiscated by the police in 2016 was 200 rupees. The public prosecutor then abruptly opened the sealed cover of the murder weapon before the witness, showed him the price written on its handle as ‘Rs 200’ and asked him the estimated price of the weapon in the present day. Devadas Shenoy speculated it to be 240 rupees in the current market rate and stated that he had stopped selling such butcher knives from the previous year as he didn’t want to be a subject to future police enquiries. He agreed that the writing of the price in the handle of the murder weapon was done under his instruction at his shop, even though he didn’t exactly remember which of his assistants had done that. The court marked the statement as the witness had mentioned about the murder weapon and more importantly, had identified it.
RTI activist Vinayaka Baliga had been hacked to death on March 21, 2016 in Kodialbail of Managluru. DYFI and like-minded groups in the city had taken to the streets to protest against the murder, accusing that Vinayaka Baliga had been killed for bringing out the financial irregularities of the NaMo Brigade founder Naresh Shenoy. Police, who investigated the case, had arrested Naresh Shenoy and 6 other accused, and had filed a charge sheet in the court. When Naresh Shenoy was granted bail, he was welcomed by Chakravarti Sulibele outside the jail, which had created a controversy.
Amidst all the developments, S Balan was appointed as the government special prosecutor in the case. Devadas Shenoy, who had earlier given a written statement to the police that the murder weapon used to kill Vinayaka Baliga was purchased by the accused from his shop, had turned hostile in the court. “My shop doesn’t sell any knives. The knives confiscated by the police are not from my shop”, he had stated which helped the accused in the case. So Special Prosecutor S Balan had subjected the hostile witness to a cross examination, succeeding to ensure the authenticity of the murder weapon through the witness himself. As the process of identification of the murder weapon by the witness has been completed, Vinayaka Baliga murder case has reached a decisive end now.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
