Dharwad: BJP leader Yogish Gowda, who was a member of the Dharwad Zilla Panchayath in Karnataka, was killed because of "political reasons", the CBI has alleged in its charge sheet filed against eight accused before a Dharwad court, officials said on Thursday.

Gowda was killed on June 15, 2016 in front of a gym in Sapthapura in Dharwad.

The charge sheet is filed before the JMFC Court, Dharwad, against Santosh Savadatti, Dinesh M, Sunil KS, Harshith, Aswath S, Nazeer Ahamad, Shanawaz and Nutan K. All but one are in judicial custody.

"The accused allegedly came to Dharwad on two occasions in June 2016 and with the support of the other accused, allegedly planned the murder of Yogish Gowda. These accused fled after the commission of the crime," CBI spokesperson RK Gaur said.

The agency has alleged that the killing had political reasons behind it and was a result of political rivalry, the officials said.

The agency had taken over the case on September 24, 2019, nearly three years after the murder, on the request of the BJP government in Karnataka and a referral from the Centre.

The case was earlier probed by the Karnataka Police which had charged six accused persons of Dharwad for allegedly planning and executing the killing.

The CBI has arrested eight accused in the case of which seven are in judicial custody, they said.

"Further investigation into the role of the other accused and larger conspiracy in this case is continuing on a day-to-day basis," Gaur said.

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Bhopal (PTI): Police have registered a case against seven persons and arrested three of them for allegedly kidnapping, assaulting and urinating on a 22-year-old man in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, officials said on Thursday.

The incident occurred during the intervening night of April 26 and 27 in an area located under the Hanumanganj police station limits, an official said.

One of the accused urinated on the face of the victim and captured a video of the act, which was later circulated on social media to humiliate him, he said.

"A complaint in this connection was lodged by Jaswant Markam (22), a resident of Kamla Nagar, based on which a case was registered against seven persons under sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and police have arrested three of them, including one Prem Thapa," Bhopal Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar said.

Three police teams have been formed and the remaining suspects will be apprehended soon, he said.

During the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, Markam was at the local bus stand with a friend when around 4 am, the accused took him away on the pretext of discussing something with him. They asked him about his neighbour and friend Aniket. When he refused to provide any information, they started assaulting him, the police said.

The accused then took him to a forest in Karond area, where he was stripped and severely thrashed, they said.

When the man began to lose consciousness, one of the accused urinated on his face and made a video of the act, which was circulated on social media to humiliate him and spread terror, according to the police.

The accused called Markam's friend around 5 am to inform him about his condition. The victim was subsequently admitted to a hospital, the officials said, adding that the viral video was also being investigated.

Responding to a query, Hanumanganj police station in-charge Awdhesh Bhadoria said if the victim was found to be from the tribal community, then relevant sections will be invoked against the accused.

At present, the police are probing the incident and search is on to arrest the remaining accused, he added.

In 2023, a man had urinated on a tribal youth in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh. A video of the incident had gone viral on social media platforms and created a controversy.