Karnataka   

Burglars strike at house of former Chief Minister

Valuables lost: Police looking for clues at the former Chief Minister’s house which was burgled, in Chitradurga.

Chitradurga: The house of late S. Nijalingappa, the first Chief Minister of Karnataka, was burgled here on Friday.

According to the police, the burglars entered the house, which is near the Deputy Commissioner’s residence, through the back door by breaking open the lock.

“They have taken away many valuable materials such as mementos, medals, insignias and memorabilia,” said Shanmukhappa, a follower of the late leader.

Among the prominent valuables missing are mementoes by Karnataka Ratna, the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and medals given by various organisations.

The entire house was in a mess with the burglars ransacking every part of it in search of valuables. Except for heavy stuff such as furniture, many small items were found missing.

Mr. Shanmukhappa said that in the morning, one of the employees of the City Municipal Council (CMC) who was there to repair the water supply connection, saw the house in a mess and informed the CMC authorities.

To a question, he said there was no one to take care of the house, except for a maid who came once a week to clean the premises.

After being informed, the police pressed into service the dog squad and forensic experts.

Interestingly, a few months ago, the district administration had sent a Rs. 1.28-crore proposal to the Government to convert the house into a permanent museum. During the 75th Kannada Sahitya Sammelan, the house was converted into a temporary museum where some of Nijalingappa’s belongings were kept. Asked why security was not provided to the house, Deputy Commissioner Amlan Adiyta Biswas said that as the house was still private property, no security could be given. He said the house was in the name of Kiran Shankar, son of the former Chief Minister, and that the district administration had requested him to hand it over to the Government.

Meanwhile, speaking to The Hindu, Additional Superintendent of Police U.P. Shivarama Reddy said that prima facie evidence showed that the burglary was carried out by some petty offenders. “The modus operandi shows that it is not the handiwork of professionals. However, we are investigating the case. We will interrogate some habitual offenders in this regard and hope to find some leads in 12 hours’ time,” he added.

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