Gadag (PTI): Police here on Monday claimed to have cracked the murder of four persons with the arrest of a gang including the kingpin, who wanted his brother and parents dead over a suspected property dispute and hired the assailants for cash to eliminate them.

The arrested included members of the 'supari' (contract) gang that was hired by Vinayak Bakale, who paid Rs 65 lakh to kill his brother Kartik and parents-- Prakash Bakale and Sunanda Bakale.

Prakash and Sunanda are local BJP functionaries, with the latter being the vice-president of Gadag-Betageri City Municipal Council.

However, the plot went awry and Vinayak's parents survived. Karthik and the family’s close relatives were hacked to death in the early hours of April 19.

Karthik (27), Parashuram Hadimani (55), Lakshmi Hadimani (45) and Akanksha Hadimani (16) were found murdered at Dasara Oni in Gadag.

Police sources said Karthik's marriage had been fixed, which the Hadimanis had come to attend.

Since jewellery, valuables and cash were intact in the house, it was suspected that the motive was not robbery but something else, police sources said.

They said that a property dispute among the siblings was suspected to be the reason behind the murder as Prakash was to give all his wealth to Karthik, which irked Vinayak. Subsequently, he allegedly decided to wipe out his parents and brother.

On Monday, Inspector General of Police (North Zone) Vikash Kumar Vikash told reporters that they had arrested Vinayak Prakash Bakale (35), Fairoz Khazi (29), Jishan Khazi (24), all from Gadag; twin brothers Sahil Ashfaq Khazi (19), Sohail Ashfaq Khazi (19), Sultan Jilani Sheikh (23), Mahesh Jagannath Salunke (21) and Waheed Liyaqat Bepari (21), all from Miraj in Sangli district of Maharashtra.

Vinayak had given a Rs 65 lakh contract to Fairoz, who arranged vehicles and weapons and carried out surveillance, Kumar said.

The assailants broke into the house thinking only three people were present, the IGP said, adding that the targets were Vinayak’s parents and brother.

The agreement between Vinayak and the gang was that the proceeds of the loot after killing the trio would belong to the contract killers.

"Vinayak gave the contract to eliminate his parents and brother Karthik. Fairoz organised the entire gang. It was a short term plan. But as Prakash Bakale raised an alarm, the panicked assailants fled the spot. Otherwise he also was a target," Vikash said.

He said that four of the accused were caught in Miraj while others were nabbed in Gadag.

The police officer said Vinayak tried to escape when he was caught.

 

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New Delhi (PTI): Billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate on Monday touted its financial and credit details of its portfolio companies to investors, showcasing its robust profits and cash flows that can sustain growth without reliance on external debt.

The ports-to-energy conglomerate, which has been hit by an indictment in a US court against its founder chairman Gautam Adani and two other executives for allegedly bribing Indian official to secure solar power contracts, in a presentation to the investors highlighted its consistently expanding profits and cash flows, which over a period have led to lowering dependence on debt for its growth ambitions.

Equity now accounts for almost two third of its total asset creation, a stark contrast to five years ago. In the last six months, the group has invested close to Rs 75,227 crore, against a total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore.

A note was also shared with the investors, along with presentations.

Outlining the group's liquidity position, the note said, "Adani Portfolio companies have sufficient liquidity to cover all debt servicing requirements for at least 12 months. As of September 30, 2024, Adani Portfolio companies had a cash of Rs 53,024 crore, which was close to 21 per cent of its total gross debt outstanding".

This amount, it said, was sufficient to cover the next 28 months of debt servicing requirement.

GROWTH WITHOUT DEBT

In the past, the group has announced plans to invest over Rs 8 lakh crore (USD 100 billion) across portfolio companies in the next ten years.

The Fund Flows from Operations (FFO) or cash profits stood at Rs 58,908 crore for the last twelve months and is growing over 30 per cent for the past five years. On the basis of this, even after assuming no growth, the group will be able to invest Rs 5.9 lakh crore only from its internal cash accruals over the next ten years, leaving very little dependency on external debt.

Further, at the portfolio level, there is very low debt gearing of 2.46x -- which means it has massive headroom for debt, according to the presentation.

Other highlights from the presentation included EBITDA (earnings before interest tax and depreciation) for the last twelve months, which it said is highly stable and hence predictable due to its infrastructure projects, which grew by 17 per cent to Rs 83,440 crore.

Also, existing annual cash flows alone can pay the entire debt in 3 years.

Gross assets/investments increased by Rs 75,227 crore, against total debt increase of only Rs 16,882 crore. Asset base has now increased to Rs 5.5 lakh crore.

Average cost of borrowing at 8.2 per cent, lowest in the last 5 years, due to upgrade in ratings across group companies, it said.

Adani Group's long-term debt from domestic banks was Rs 94,400 crore. This stood against a cash balance of Rs 53,024 crore, most of which was parked with Indian banks.

Borrowings from global banks were 27 per cent of total debt.