Bengaluru, Jun 9 (PTI): Days after the body of a 17-year-old girl stuffed inside a suitcase was found on the outskirts of Bengaluru, seven people were arrested and a minor boy from Bihar was apprehended in connection with the murder, police said on Monday.

After strangling her, the accused stuffed the body inside a suitcase and dumped it near the railway tracks in Chandapura, close to Anekal, on May 21, they said.

Citing a preliminary investigation, a senior police officer said that the girl, who hailed from Bihar, came to Bengaluru on May 18 after being lured into a relationship by Ashiq Kumar, a factory helper, who is already married and has two children.

During interrogation, the accused claimed that he had a heated argument with the girl and was intoxicated at that time. The argument turned violent and in a fit of rage, he strangled her at a relative’s home in Bommanahalli on the night of May 20. After the murder, he, with the help of other accused, allegedly stuffed her body into a suitcase.

Later, they used one of the accused Mukesh's car to transport the body and dumped the suitcase near Chandapura railway bridge, the officer said.

Following the incident, the accused fled to Bihar from where they were later traced and nabbed by the police.

"A case of murder was registered. We have arrested seven accused and apprehended a minor boy. The exact motive behind the murder is being probed. Further investigation is underway," the officer added.

The victim's father, a daily wage labourer, has two wives and seven daughters. She was the second daughter of her father’s first wife, police added.

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Nagpur (PTI): The Vishva Hindu Parishad on Monday slammed Karnataka Congress minister Priyank Kharge for linking the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to money laundering and asserted such statements were part of a strategy to insult patriotic organisations and defame patriots.

Kharge, while speaking at an event in Bengaluru on Sunday, cited the RSS' "network of more than 2,500 organisations, they are from America, England" to allege "these people are into money laundering".

Addressing a press conference here, VHP national organisational secretary Milind Parande said such statements will reduce the acceptance in society of those making them.

"They are trying to increase their credibility and trying to indulge in appeasement (with such remarks), both of which will not succeed. There are many forces and persons in India who have a problem with the awakening of Hindutva. They are coming up with such nonsense. Using such words and insulting patriotic organisations shows their intellectual bankruptcy," he said.

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"It will reduce their acceptance in society. What he (Kharge) said is absolutely false and even they know it. But they do it as a strategy to defame patriots. The people of Karnataka must think whether such people should be brought back to power. Hence, the VHP always asserts those who believe in the interests of Hindus must be in power at the Centre and in the states," Parande added.

Asked about the BNP winning polls in Bangladesh and whether it will improve the conditions of the Hindus there, Parande said it is expected that the community is protected irrespective of who is in power. So far, people there have been incapable of protecting Hindus, he said in reference to attacks on the community since the Sheikh Hasina government fell following an uprising in August 2024.

Asserting that most of the violence has been sponsored by political parties, Parande said, "The Hindu community is in a very dangerous situation in Bangladesh."

He also refused to comment on the face-off between the Uttar Pradesh government and Swami Avimukteshwaranand during Magh Mela festivities in Prayagraj. A controversy erupted on Mauni Amavasya morning at the Sangam Nose when police, citing heavy crowd pressure, allegedly stopped the seer from proceeding to the Sangam in a palanquin along with a large number of supporters.

The VHP as a practice does not give a statement on disputes between saints as it would not be appropriate, Parande said.

Without taking the name of Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal, the VHP leader said it was surprising anyone from the state can make such a remark about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The Congress leader has courted controversy by equating 18th Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan with the founder of the Maratha Empire.

On some persons sprinkling cow urine to purify a temple in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar following the visit of Muslim Shiv Sena MLA Abdul Sattar in Sillod on Mahashivratri on Sunday, Parande said places of worship must be visited by those who have faith.

Without genuine sentiment, it becomes a mere political stunt, he said.

"Religion should never be exploited for political gain, as that insults faith," Parande said while not commenting on the 'purification' episode linked to the incident.