Bengaluru (PTI): Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) President H D Deve Gowda on Monday announced the formation of a core committee of the party led by Chamundeshwari MLA G T Devegowda to draw an action plan for the Lok Sabha elections.

The committee will travel to all the districts of the state from September 1 and submit a report to the party's state-level committee in October about the party organisation, the JD(S) supremo said at a press conference.

It will recommend changes specific to each district to be made in the organisation, he added.

JD(S)' move comes amid reports that the Congress is trying to woo leaders from the opposition BJP and Deve Gowda's party to get them into its fold to bolster its strength with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections.

Karnataka has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. In the 2019 elections, the BJP won 25 seats, while a party-backed candidate also emerged victorious. The Congress and JD(S) secured one seat each. In the JD(S) bastion of Hassan, Deve Gowda's grand-son Prajwal Revanna had won.

"Our 19 MLAs and eight MLCs led by former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy unanimously decided to form a 12-member core committee led by G T Devegowda. The committee will travel across the state," the former Prime Minister said.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was defeated by G T Devegowda in Chamundeshwari. However, Siddaramaiah, who had contested from two constituencies back then, had won from Badami in Bagalkot district.

H D Deve Gowda said the committee will also decide strategies for the elections to Bengaluru municipal corporation and Panchayats.

"I have stepped into 91 years of age. My target is to protect JD(S) as a regional party," he said.

The veteran leader said he would also canvas for the party in the next Lok Sabha elections.

"At this age of 91, I will share my experience with the people," he added.

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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.

The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.

Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.

“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.

"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.

The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.