The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Murder plan foiled, seven held

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Saturday, Jul 14, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Murder plan foiled, seven held

Staff Reporter

Accused hired killers following a financial dispute

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Thwarted: B.N.S. Reddy (left), DCP (Central), and B.B. Ashok Kumar, ACP (Ulsoor Gate), inspecting the weapons seized from a seven-member gang, in Bangalore on Friday.

BANGALORE: The Ashoknagar police on Thursday arrested a seven-member gang and foiled its plans to murder a Bajrang Dal leader and his two friends at the Mayo Hall court premises on Mahatma Gandhi Road in the heart of the city.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) B.N.S. Reddy said they seized a revolver, four live bullets and five swords from the arrested persons, who were hired by a finance agent to kill Bajrang Dal leader H.K. Praveen of Chikmagalur and his two friends following a financial dispute.

Around 1.45 p.m. on Thursday, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Ulsoor Gate) B.B. Ashok Kumar got information that a few men had to come to the Mayo Hall court in a car and there were several swords in their vehicle.

The police, who suspected that the armed men might have come there to kill someone, formed three teams under Mr. Ashok Kumar’s leadership and rushed to the Mayo Hall court in disguise. They cordoned off the court premises and started looking for the armed men, Mr. Reddy said.

The police found that the armed men had come there in two sports utility vehicles and a car. They chased the three vehicles, intercepted them on Brigade Road and Residency Road and arrested seven persons.

During interrogation, it came to light that one of the arrested, Christopher A. Raj (33) of OMBR Layout, had hired the six others to kill Mr. Praveen and his friends, Raghu and Poornesh, were all planters from Chikmagalur, the officer said.

Christopher, who was running a financial consultancy in Banaswadi, had promised Mr. Praveen in August 2006 that he would get him a loan of Rs. 1 crore and had asked him to pay him a commission of Rs. 10 lakh. He had also promised to get loans for five of Mr. Praveen’s friends and had taken Rs. 30 lakh from them, the police said.

When he could not mange to get them loans, he issued five cheques to them for Rs. 95 lakh, all of which bounced. When Mr. Praveen started pressuring him to return the money, Christopher went to Chikmagalur on May 29 and paid him Rs. 2 lakh. He promised to repay the remaining amount after selling his house at Jinkethimmanahalli in Ramamurthynagar.

When legal tangles came in the way of disposing of the house, Christopher promised Mr. Praveen and his two friends that he would get them General Power of Attorney (GPA) of the property. He asked them to come to Mayo Hall court around 1.30 p.m. on Thursday to get the documents authenticated by notary.

Christopher then allegedly hired six men for Rs. 2 lakh to murder Mr. Praveen and his friends near the court. However, before Mr. Praveen and his friends reached the court premises, the police swung into action and foiled the plans of the accused, the police said.

The six hirelings were identified as Baburjan (36) of Kerala, Anand (27) of HRBR Layout, Albert (28) of Old Bagalur Layout, C.K. Naveen Kumar (32) of Sultanpalya, Venkatesh (35) of Jeevanhalli and Ravi (29) of Old Bagalur Layout. Baburajan had befriended Albert while the two were in jail here earlier, the police said.

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