Bengaluru, Dec 10: Denying the charge hiring a hitman, veteran journalist Ravi Belagere has told police that he never wanted to eliminate his subordinate Sunil Heggaravalli.
The police took Belagere into custody on December 8, after the arrest of Shashidhar Mundewadi, whom they describe as a contract killer.
Sources privy to the investigation said that a team headed by DCP Jinendra Kanagavi, asked Belagere specific questions: "Why did you conspire to kill Sunil Heggaravalli? How do you know Shashidhar Mundewadi? How much did you promise to pay him?"
"I groomed him (Sunil Heggaravalli). He was a member of my family for 15 years. Why would I want him dead?..." This was Belagere’s response.
"If Heggaravalli had cheated me, I would have slapped him and counselled him. I had the liberty. He is no big rival that I had to kill him," a source quoted Belagere as saying.
Belagere is housed at the office of ACP Subramanya. He has been provided a bed and a chair. A doctor is on standby to check his condition every two hours, a source said.
Meanwhile, the Central Crime Branch on Saturday continued searches on premises owned by Belagere.
A team visited his farm house in Joida in Uttara Kannada district, while another searched a building in Rajarajeshwari Nagar and seized some documents, according to Kanagavi.
A house named Hima Belegere in Pattanagere in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, where Belagere's second wife Yashomathi lives, was also searched.
The police said the house was searched in her presence and a statement was obtained from her.
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