The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Monday began a probe into the case of alleged abduction and murder of Gangadhar Chadachana, 28, in Indi taluk of Vijayapura district, on the charge of which four local policemen have already been arrested. This comes amid suspicion of the involvement of more senior police officials in the case.
- October 30, 2017: Local police allegedly picked up Dharmaraj Chadachana, 32, and his brother Gangadhar Chadachana, 28, from their house. Dharmaraj was killed in a police encounter by Gopal Hallur, PSI, Chadchan police station. A missing complaint was filed for Gangadhar. Vimalabai, mother of the Chadachana brothers, lodged a complaint alleging police faked the encounter and allegedly handed over Gangadhar to his arch rivals who killed him.
- May 2018: Vimalabai filed a habeas corpus petition in the Kalaburagi Bench of the High Court of Karnataka, asking the police to find her son Gangadhar
- June 10, 2018: The Vijayapura police, acting on Vimalabai’s complaint, registered an FIR alleging Gangadhar was killed by Mahadeva Bhairagonda and his associates. Two of the associates arrested
- June 15, 2018: Gopal Hallur, who killed Dhramaraj in an encounter, and three constables arrested for allegedly handing over Gangadhar to Bhairagonda’s associates and helping them dispose the body
- June 16, 2018: Case handed over to CID
The local police allegedly “handed over” Gangadhar to his rivals, who are believed to have killed him and disposed of the body in the Bhima on October 30, 2017. This was soon after killing Gangadhar’s elder brother, Dharmaraj Chadachana, 32, in an alleged fake encounter on the same day. A probe by the Vijayapura police has indicated that the arrested policemen had taken “supari” for the two killings.
Vimalabai, the mother of the Chadachana brothers, has been running pillar to post since October 2017, seeking justice. While a magisterial inquiry by the Assistant Commissioner of Indi was held into Dharmaraj’s killing, whose report has been submitted to the government, the police had only registered a missing report in Gangadhar’s case.
Mother’s petition
Following a habeas corpus petition Ms. Vimalabai filed in the Kalaburagi Bench of the High Court of Karnataka in May 2018, the Vijayapura district police registered an FIR on June 10 against private individuals — Mahadeva Bhairagonda and his associates, named by the petitioner. The arrest of Hanumant Pujari, a close associate of Bhairagonda days later, led to the arrest of four policemen — sub-inspector Gopal Hallur and three constables Chandrashekhar Jadhav, Geddeppa Naikodi, and Siddaruda Rugi — attached to the Chadchan station.
The four allegedly picked up the brothers from their village, staged the encounter of Dharmaraj and handed over Gangadhar to Bhairagonda. They allegedly even helped in disposing Gangadhar’s body. Bhairagonda, the main accused in the case, is absconding.
Praveen Sood, Director-General of Police, CID, said, “We are only investigating into the alleged abduction and murder of Gangadhar Chadachana. The allegations of foulplay in the encounter of Dharamaraj Chadachana is not under the ambit of our probe now. There is already a magisterial probe on that. But since it is alleged that the genesis of both the deaths was same, we will examine on including it as part of the alleged conspiracy based on the evidence we acquire.”
Asked about the involvement of senior police officers, he said, “Only a thorough probe will reveal the nature of the conspiracy and it is unwise to pre-empt it.”
A special team of the CID police, led by Anand Kumar, Superintendent of Police, reached Chadchan and began its probe on Monday. K.S.R. Charan Reddy, ADGP, CID, also reached the town on Monday night and will lead the probe.
Body yet to be recovered
Meanwhile, the body of Gangadhar, the crucial evidence in the case, is yet to be recovered. “We will initiate measures to recover at least the skeletal remains, if they can be found,” said a senior CID official.
