Bengaluru youth killed over petty fight not over Urdu, says CID chargesheet

A 22 year-old food delivery boy was murdered in Bengaluru in April over a petty street altercation that broke out after verbal abuse and staring, states the chargesheet filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the case. The murder had created a political furore after Home Minister Araga Jnanendra claimed the youth was killed because he did not know Urdu. He later withdrew his statement after a fact-check published by the Karnataka police stating that there was no link to Urdu language in the murder.

The chargesheet filed by the police on June 30 laid out the sequence of events leading to the murder of Chandru V, a resident of Bengaluru's Jaibheem Nagar, off Mysuru Road, on April 5. At 2.15 am in the night, Chandru V and his friend Simon Raj set out to eat a chicken roll in Chamrajpet only to find the eatery was closed. They then stopped at a nearby bakery when Shahid alias 'Narrow' passed by and asked Simon why he had abused him, the chargesheet read.

Raj denied abusing him and asked him to go away. As Raj walked into the bakery, Shahid picked an argument with Chandru. Raj walked out of the bakery and pushed Shahid, making him fall. An angry Shahid asked them to call anyone they wanted for a fight. Shahid then asked Raj to speak in Urdu as he did not know Kannada, the chargesheet added.

Shahid and his associates - Shahid alias 'Gena', Mohammed Nabeel and a 17-year-old then attacked Raj and Chandru, stabbing Chandru on his thigh with a knife.The accused persons were arrested.

Following the incident, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra's claim that Chandru was killed because he could not speak Urdu was widely reported. This was debunked by the Karnataka police in a fact check published on their official website without naming the Home Minister. The minister then retracted his statement though other BJP leaders continued to reiterate it and called former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant a liar.

Hindustan Times earlier quoted Simon saying that the provocation for the attack was the collision of bikes when the incident occurred in April.