Mangaluru, Apr 30: A local court today acquitted all the three accused in the sensational Karthik Raj murder case.
Karthik Raj, an engineering graduate and resident of Sudarshan Nagar in Pajeer was murdered during his jogging routine in October 2016 near Asaigoli under the limits of Konaje police station.
Though the BJP had blamed Muslims and Congress for the murder, finally it had come to light that he was murdered by his family member.
The police had arrested Karthik Raj's sister Kavyashree, her boyfriend Gautam Kayya and latter’s brother Gaurav on April 29, 2017. Ironically, exactly a year after the arrest, the principal district and sessions court in Manglauru acquitted in the case due to lack of evidence.
According to the charge sheet, the murder was a result of misunderstanding between the siblings over family issue. Karthik’s sister Kavyashree had an illicit relation with Gautam Kayya, after she refused to live with her husband Shashwat. This had angered Karthik.
Meanwhile, Gautam, who was constructing a house in Kondana, had fallen short of cash. Kavyashree, who resented her brother’s interference in her private life, lured him with an offer of Rs 5 lakh to murder Karthik. Gautam took help of his brother Gaurav Kayya and allegedly murdered Karthik when he went out for his regular morning jogging.
The murder had taken a political turn with the infamous comment of Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel that the BJP would set fire to the district if police failed to nab the assailant of Karthik Raj at a protest rally outside Konaje police station. Incidentally, Kavyashree, the main accused too was present at this very protest meeting.
Judge KS Bilagi heard 33 witnesses and ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove the allegations against the accused. Advocates Venu Kumar, Yuvaraj K Amin and Udayananda had argued for the accused.
Also Read: Karthik Raj murder: Victim’s sister, her boyfriend, his younger brother arrested
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