Kallappa Handibag, the police officer who was found dead on Tuesday in Belagavi, allegedly got involved in the kidnap case through Praveen Khandya, a Bajrang Dal activist, with whom he was friends since he reported to duty in Chikkamagaluru last year.
The victim, Tejas Gowda, and accused Nataraj were allegedly involved in cricket betting and differences that cropped up between them over a financial matter was the suspected reason for the kidnap.
Financial dispute
Tejas Gowda, the complainant, did admit to a dispute over financial matters with Nataraj, who runs Kallmane Chit Fund, one of the accused in the kidnap case.
He told presspersons on Monday that Nataraj “masterminded” his kidnap over the financial dispute. Mr. Gowda owed Rs. 25 lakh to Nataraj in a deal, and he had delayed to return the amount.
It is alleged that Handibag also got involved in the dispute through Khandya.
In order to extract money from Mr. Gowda, Nataraj and Khandya are said to have hatched a conspiracy to kidnap him and executed it with the help of a few associates. As Mr. Gowda agreed to settle the dispute by paying Rs. 10 lakh, the kidnappers chose the police officer as the “confidential person” to receive the money.
The telephone conversations, Mr. Gowda’s friend Pavan had with the police officer, prompted the police to treat the Dy.SP as one of the accused.
Protests
Meanwhile, representatives of Bahujan Samaj Party, CPI, Janashakti, and Komu Souharda Vedike staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Chikkamagaluru demanding the arrest of the accused.
They maintained that those indulging in cricket betting and gambling were the “real culprits” in the case.
