At 8:40 am on this day (30 August) a year ago, 2 bullets were pumped into the head and chest of MM Kalburgi, a social activist and noted Kannada writer. The daylight assassination was carried out at his residence in Dharwad in northern Karnataka.
In the last one year, Karnataka police has failed to make any headway in investigations. So, on his first death anniversary, activists from several states will converge in Dharwad to press for speedy investigations. A call for ‘Chalo Dharwad’ has been given.
Let’s have a look at what happened on the investigation front in the last year.
What is Karnataka Police Doing?
30 August 2015: Two youngsters arrive on motorcycle pretending to be Kalburgi’s students. They enter his home, shoot him and run away.
31 August 2015: Bhuvit Shetty, a Bajrang Dal activist from Dakshin Kannada district, is booked for tweeting “Mock Hinduism and die like a dog. Who next after Kalburgi?”
1 September 2015: With no concrete leads in investigations, the State Government decides to write to the Centre seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case.
2 September 2015: Meanwhile, Karnataka CID finds no leads in Karnataka, says the Kalburgi murder could be related to assassinations of Dabholkar and Pansare in Maharashtra.
3 September 2015: Dharwad police release the sketches of 2 suspects.
3 September 2015: Police arrest Prasad Attavar, chief of the Mangaluru unit of Sri Ram Sene, in connection with the Kalburgi murder case after he wrote a provocative Facebook post.
7 September 2015: Hindi writer Uday Prakash announces that he will return his Sahitya Akademi award in protest against Kalburgi’s murder.
10 September 2015: Another rationalist free-thinker and writer, KS Bhagwan, receives a letter threatening to kill him.
15 September 2015: The Director General of Police (CID) HC Kishore Chandra says Kalburgi was murdered over ideology and not over a property dispute or issues within the family.
15 September 2015: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announces Rs 5 lakh to those who can provide clues about the murder.
18 September 2015: Maharashtra police detains 2 suspects in connection with the Kalburgi case.
3 October 2015: Upset over the delay in investigations, 6 Kannada writers return their awards to Kannada Sahitya Parishat.
23 October 2015: Sahitya Akademi passes a unanimous resolution appealing to the state and central governments to take steps to prevent incidents like Kalburgi’s murder.
29 October 2015: An unidentified body resembling the sketch of one of the two killers is found with two bullet injuries in Belagavi district in Karnataka.
False Claims and U-Turns
18 December 2015: The CID wing of the Karnataka Police claims that the same weapon was used to kill all 3 rationalists – Dr MM Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.
19 December 2015: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara claims that the CID is on the verge of cracking the Kalburgi case.
7 January 2016: Bombay High Court expresses surprise at the failure of CBI (probing the Dabholkar murder) in obtaining a ballistics report from Karnataka CID, which reportedly shows a link between the murders of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and Kannada scholar-writer MM Kalburgi. The court pulls up the Karnataka CID for not cooperating with the CBI.
24 March 2016: The CID claims that contract killers were hired for Kalburgi’s murder; suspects could be from Maharashtra or Goa, they say.
31 May 2016: Karnataka CID hits a dead end, blames SIT of Maharashtra police (probing the Pansare murder) for the delay in Dr MM Kalburgi’s murder probe. Karnataka CID says it has not received any response to the five letters it wrote to the SIT.
25 July 2016: Karnataka CID says it wants to seek custody of Virendra Tawde, member of Sanatan Sanstha, who has been arrested in rationalist Narendra Dabholkar murder case.
Since July 2016, there have been no developments in the investigation into Kalburgi’s murder. Let’s see whether ‘Chalo Dharwad’ succeeds in reviving the CID investigation a year after the cold-blooded killing.
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