The police have intensified investigation of the murder of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) councillor S. Nataraj by taking into custody 40 persons for interrogation.
Mr. Nataraj, who represented Gandhi Nagar ward, was hacked to death by a car-borne gang on Sampige Road here on Saturday.
Suspects have been rounded up for questioning, the police said.
“We have not made any arrests in the case. We have formed six special teams for investigation,” H.S. Revanna, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North Division), told The Hindu .
The officer, however, did not divulge information about the detainees.
According to sources, the car that was allegedly used by the assailants to kill the councillor was registered in the name of a BBMP employee. The BBMP employee had been the sixth owner of the car, the sources added. The car, the sources said, was sold by the BBMP employee to a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) employee about 10 days ago.
The KSRTC employee is a native of Koppa in Chikmagalur. He lives near Herohalli on Magadi Road. A police team has been stationed in front of his locked house. “We are yet to pick him up,” the sources said.
Meanwhile, the police recovered a mobile phone from the place of murder suspected to be left behind by the assailants. “The mobile phone had been stolen,” the sources said.
Cremated
Nataraj was cremated here at the electric crematorium at Harishchandra Ghat on Sunday amid police security.
The body was taken in a procession through the roads of Seshadripuram, Malleswaram and Sampige Road. Nataraj's family members, several politicians, including MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao, and a large number of Nataraj's supporters were present.
