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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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.