Former Karnataka minister and Congress leader Vinay Kulkarni has been taken into CBI custody and interrogated by CBI officials in Dharwad on Thursday morning in connection with the murder of former Zilla Panchayat member Yogeesh Gowda in 2016.
According to the reports, the CBI officials took Congress leader Vinay Kulkarni into their custody from his residence and detained him at the Dharwad town Police Station for further questioning in the case. Kulkarni was a minister in the erstwhile Siddaramaiah government in the state.
As per reports, Vinay Kulkarni, and his brother Vijaya Kulkarni were taken into CBI custody and were questioned at the Dharwad Town Police Station.
#Breaking | Karnataka: CBI has taken former minister & Congress leader Vinay Kulkarni into custody in connection to the murder of a BJP leader in 2016.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 5, 2020
Deepak Bopanna with details. pic.twitter.com/lEm2C0fCP5
Before taking the Congress leader into the custody, the CBI officials questioned the younger brother of the former minister, his close aids, few Congress leaders and also wife of the slain ZP member.
The former Congress Minister is arrested for allegedly plotting the murder of BJP leader Yogesh, a Zilla panchayat member from BJP who was hacked to death in his gym in Dharwad in June 2016. The BJP leader’s family had alleged a conspiracy by rivals and had accused Vinay Kulkarni and others of plotting to kill him.
Congress minister, officials threatened family to settle the case
The brother of the BJP leader, Gurunathgouda, had filed a plea demanding the transfer of the case to CBI for investigation. Gurunathgouda had made several allegations against top officials and a former minister saying that they had met and threatened him, asking to ‘settle’ the case. He had also alleged that the accused had attempted to tamper evidence in the case.
The BJP leaders had demanded a CBI inquiry against Vinay Kulkarni, who was then the minister in the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah. While the then Congress government had declined to refer the murder case to the CBI, the BSY-led BJP government had later handed it over to CBI after coming to power.