Hubballi, Apr 21: BJP national president J P Nadda on Sunday demanded a CBI probe into the murder of 23-year-old college student Neha Hiremath here recently.
Neha, daughter of Congress corporator Niranjan Hiremath, was stabbed to death by her former classmate in the premises of her college in Dharwad on April 18 sparking widespread protests.
Nadda visited Neha Hiremath's house and offered condolences to her family. Later, he said the BJP will cooperate if the investigation of the case needs to be handed over to CBI so that the victim gets justice.
Addressing reporters, Nadda said, "I offered condolences to the family and came here to stand with them in this hour of grief."
"From what I have heard from her (Neha's) father and the way her mother narrated the incident, it is such a heart breaking incident...," he added.
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Condemning the incident, the BJP chief assured justice to the family of the deceased.
Taking exception to the statements made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Home Minister G Parameshwara, he said it would "influence and "dilute" the probe.
If the state police was unable to handle the investigation of the case, Nadda said he would request the state government to handover the case to CBI.
"If the state government wants, they can refer the case to CBI and BJP will cooperate so that this innocent girl gets justice, humanity gets justice and such incidents do not recur in future... even her father has demanded for a CBI probe because he doesn't have faith in the state police and wants the investigation into the murder of his daughter to be transferred to the CBI," Nadda said.
The incident snowballed into a political slugfest between the ruling Congress and opposition BJP in Karnataka.
While the ruling party has tried to project it as an "incident with a personal angle", the saffron party suspects "love jihad" and said that it points to the "deterioration of law and order" in the state.
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Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
