Bengaluru: Sources in the Criminal Investigation Department, which is probing the murder case of Kannada scholar MM Kalburgi said that supari killers, hired by a Hindutva group might have committed the crime.
CID officials said 20 such Hindutva groups were under surveillance over the past three months, and they are now close to cracking the identity of the group. However, they refused to comment further on the issue as it could hamper the probe.
CID sources said they had been working on the theory that hired hitmen shot down Kalburgi at his Kalyan Nagar residence in Dharwad on August 30 last year. When quizzed whether the new lead meant the sleuths had zeroed in on the group involved in the murder, the official said they were close to cracking the identity of the killers. The official also said they believed the same group and probably the same hit men may have been involved in the murders of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and social activist Govind Pansare.
The basis for this, sleuths said, was the ballistic report of the bullets used in the Kalburgi murder that linked the weapon used in the two earlier assassinations. If proved right, it would be contrary to the arrests made by the Maharashtra police in the two murders. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Pansare murder case, had arrested Samir Gaikwad, an alleged activist from Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha, for the murder. The police are on the lookout for another absconding accused, Rudra Patil, in the case.
All officials involved in the probe, led by Inspector-General of Police Hemanth Nimbalkar, have been camping in Dharwad for the past two days. They even visited the house of the slain scholar on Thursday. Officials said they wanted to verify certain information with the family members, but beyond that the visit was a courtesy one.
Mr. Nimbalkar said they reviewed the probe into the case in the light of the new leads, and brainstormed over the next course of action. This is the first such meeting in recent months.
(Agencies)
