BJP worker’s murder was not communal or political: Karnataka Police

BENGALURU: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths, investigating the murder of BJP worker Santhosh, have concluded that the murder was over personal rivalry and it was not communal or political in nature.Further, investigations have established that the assailants used a knife to stab him, and not a screwdriver as reported earlier.

The day after the murder, City Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar had referred the case for a CCB probe. As the jurisdictional police had already remanded the four persons arrested in the case — Wasim, Philips, Irfan and Umar — in judicial custody, the CCB officials took them into police custody on Wednesday for further interrogation.

“The accused were grilled and it was revealed that personal rivalry had led to the murder. This was also the conclusion by the local police soon after the murder. As per the statement of the accused, there was a running feud between Santhosh and Wasim. It was mainly about Wasim and gang smoking ganja in the area and also trying to sell drugs. They had fought over the issue on several occasions. From the last 2-3 months Wasim was thinking of teaching Santhosh a lesson,” an officer said, on condition of anonymity.

“Wasim had a fight with Santhosh’s younger brother a few days before the murder. Also, Santhosh had reprimanded Wasim’s brother-in-law just a day before he was killed, as the latter had created nuisance in the area under the influence of alcohol. These incidents had further intensified the rivalry between the two,” the officer added.

CCB police have found that Santhosh was stabbed with a knife, and not a screwdriver. “The knife was kept in one of the accused person’s house and it was seized on Sunday. As the questioning of the accused has been completed, we will produce them before a court and will remand them back in judicial custody. We will file a chargesheet in a month or two, based on the findings of the probe,” sources said.

Santhosh (28), a resident of Chinnappa Garden in JC Nagar, was stabbed to death near his house on January 31 evening. Soon after the murder, the police had arrested four persons, including Wasim, whose father is a block level leader of the Congress.