Karnataka: Congress leader killed, body found under bridge

VIJAYAPURA: The body of Congress leader and vice-president of state women's wing, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Reshma Padekanur, 35, was found under Korti-Kolhar bridge across the Krishna river at 11am Friday. It's suspected she was murdered Thursday night. Her hands and face were battered.
Police called her r elatives, including husband Khaja Bandenawaj Padekanur to identify the body which was taken to BLDE Medical College Hospital for postmortem.
In a complaint at Kolhar police station, her husband said, "Toufiq Ismail Sheikh of Solapur took a hand loan of Rs 13 lakh two years ago from Reshma. She demanded repayment several times. A case was also booked at Solapur, Maharashtra in this connection."
Her husband alleged: "Sheikh was furious about the police case and plotted her murder. He suggested discussing the matter at her house on the outskirts of the city on National Highway 50. He took her there in his Innova." "Prima facia, it appears to be a case of murder over a financial matter," said police.
Resh ma was a political leader, social worker and pro-Kannada activist. She was president, district unit women's wing, JD (S), for several years and contested the assembly elections in 2013 as the JD(S) candidate from Devar Hipparagi. She lost by over 8,000 votes. In the 2018 assembly polls, she was denied a JD(S) ticket. She quit the party and joined Congress.