Bengaluru, Sep 4: Bullets were fired from a similar country-made pistol to kill Kannada scholar Prof M M Kalburgi in Dharwad, rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune and communist leader Govind Pansare in Kolhapur. But other than the weapon used, the Karnataka police haven’t found any other similarity in the three killings so far.
Dabholkar was killed on August 20, 2013, when he was out on a morning walk. Pansare was killed on February 16, 2015, when he was on a morning walk along with his wife. The wife survived the bullet injuries but Pansare succumbed.
A total of 12 teams are on the job to apprehend Kalburgi’s killers. Two of them have gone to Pune and Kolhapur to gather details about the Dabholkar and Pansare cases respectively. They are in touch with the CBI and the SIT. “While we haven’t found any similarity so far, we suspect there could be some links. It will be a day or two before we zero in on the motive for Kalburgi’s murder,” a senior police officer said. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is monitoring the investigation on a daily basis.
Several other police teams are looking into other possible motives for Prof Kalburgi’s murder, especially his relationship with some academic trusts. In particular, police are investigating whether infighting among Veerashaiva Lingayats played a role in Kalburgi’s assassination.
Kalburgi always argued that Veerashaiva and Lingayat are two different sects and that Veerashaivas kept on exploiting Lingayats and even misled them. He maintained that Basavanna founded the Lingayat sect while Veerashaiva is a part of Hinduism. He also maintained that the Lingayat sect was not part of Hinduism. He brought out a series of books and research articles to prove this point of view, angering a section of Veerashaiva Lingayats who believed that Veerashaiva and Lingayat are the same and not different.
This section always targeted Kalburgi for his ideology, said the officer.
Kalburgi was working on a book based on his research about those responsible for the downfall of the Lingayat sect and their motive. Veerashaivas opposed to him thought this book would reveal some uncomfortable truths and challenge their dominance. So, they were dead opposed to the publication of the book, according to the officer.
Such sharp differences and infighting may have ended in his murder. “This is one of the main angles we are exploring right now. But we are yet to achieve any breakthrough,” the officer said.
CBI probe soon: George
The State government will soon write to the Centre seeking a CBI probe into the murder of Kalburgi in Dharwad. Until the CBI takes over, the CID?will continue the investigation, Home Minister K?J?George said.
CID tries to enhance CCTV footage quality
The CCTV?camera installed at Hiremallur Ishwaran Science College, on the way to the house of Kalburgi, has recorded the movement of two suspicious persons on a bike.
The movement has been recorded from a distance of about 40 metres and hence the images are hazy. The technical division of the CID has taken up the task of enhancing the image so as to ascertain the identity of the assailants. The person riding the bike was not wearing a helmet, but the pillion rider was wearing one. It is suspected that the latter might have shot Kalburgi dead, reports DHNS from Hubballi. Forensic experts have suspected destruction of evidence while Kalburgi was shifted from his house to the hospital immediately after he was shot in the forehead.
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