Seven people have been booked for the killing of a JD(S) leader, said Additional Superintendent of Police Mandya district Balamegowda, reported PTI. The police have not made any arrests in the case, he added.
He also said that the motive of the killing seems to be an old rivalry. "There may also be a political motive," he said.
Honnalagere Prakash was hacked to death on Monday, 24 December, in Karnataka's Mandya area, after four bike-borne assailants chased the leader’s car and brutally slashed his neck and arm using a machete, The News Minute reported.
The incident took place at around 4:30 pm, when Prakash was travelling on the Mysuru road.
Prakash who was left unconscious and laid in the pool of blood after the attack, was rushed to the Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS). Speaking to the TNM, officials said that Prakash was alive when brought in, however succumbed to his injuries within minutes.
The incident also led to a massive traffic jam on both of side of the roads, as MLA LR Shivarame Gowda who rushed to the crime scene, instructed the police to stop traffic flow.
The police are suspecting the killing was motivated by revenge and a case has been registered at the Maddur Police Station.
Shoot Them Mercilessly: Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy
Hours after the brutal killing of the leader from Mandya district, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy was heard speaking on the phone, telling the person on the line that the killers should be shot dead without mercy, The News Minute reported.
It is presumed that the chief minister was speaking to a senior police officials.
In a video that has emerged from the Chief Minister’s visit to the scene of the crime, HD Kumaraswamy is heard saying on the phone, “He was a good man. I don’t know who killed him and who killed him in this manner. Shoot them (the killers) mercilessly, there would be no issues.”
However, he later clarified that he was ‘emotional’ at the moment, and it was not his official order to ‘shoot mercilessly.’
Speaking to the press, CM Kumaraswamy said, “It was not my order, I was emotional at that moment. They (killers) are the reason for two murders and they were in jail. They came out on bail two days ago and killed another person (JDS leader Prakash), this is how they are misusing bail.”
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