Karnataka BJP leader's murder: CBI files charge sheet against ex-minister Vinay Kulkarni, 2 others
New Delhi, Feb 2: The CBI has filed a charge sheet against former minister in the Congress-led Karnataka government Vinay Kulkarni and two others in connection with the 2016 murder of Yogesh Gowda, a BJP zilla panchayat member in Dharwad, officials said Tuesday.Besides Kulkarni, the agency has filed the charge sheet against Chandrashekhar Indi and Shivananand Birdar in a special court in Dharwad, they said.
The agency has alleged that the accused had personal enmity and political rivalry with Gowda who rejected their offer to withdraw from the zilla panchayat elections in 2016.
"Investigations revealed that the Ex-Minister allegedly conspired with his close associates and in pursuance thereof, one of his associates agreed to execute the murder. It was further alleged that a land deal was entered by the accused and a purported land dispute was portrayed as a motive for the murder. Further, three country-made pistols were also seized by CBI," CBI spokesperson R C Joshi said.
Officials said the killers who had come from Bengaluru were made to stay at a resort owned by a confidant of Kulkarni on June 7, 2016 during the first attempt of murder, they said.
The spokesperson said the CBI investigation revealed that an associate of Kulkarni arranged other accused from Bangalore and they visited Dharwad on two occasions.
"On the first occasion, they stayed in a resort at Dandelli allegedly arranged by the said accused (Kulkarni). They allegedly committed the murder during their second attempt. These accused fled after the commission of crime," the spokesperson said.
Kulkarni had won the Dharwad Assembly seat in 2013, but was defeated in 2018 by the BJP's Amrut Ayyappa Desai.
Gowda, a BJP zilla panchayat member, was killed in his gym on June 15, 2016 by unidentified men, they said.
The agency has taken over the probe on the recommendation of the Karnataka government, they said.
The probe by the local police cited property dispute as the reason behind the murder while the CBI probe shows it to be a political murder, they said.
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Fire breaks out in residential building in east Delhi, nine killed
New Delhi (PTI): At least nine people were killed after a fire broke out in a residential building in east Delhi's Vivek Vihar early Sunday, officials said.
The incident was reported around 3.48 am at a four-storey building in Vivek Vihar Phase-I, following which police, fire and disaster management teams rushed to the spot.
According to the police, the blaze engulfed flats on the second, third and fourth floors of the building, prompting a large-scale rescue operation.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
"Around 10 to 15 people were rescued from the premises during the firefighting operation. Two of them, who sustained minor injuries, were shifted to the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital," a senior police officer said.
A total of 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, while teams from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and local police assisted in the rescue and evacuation efforts.
Police said the fire was brought under control after several hours.
The identities of the deceased are yet to be ascertained, and efforts are underway to determine the cause of the fire, police said.
Further investigation and proceedings are underway.
