First Additional District and Sessions Judge T.P. Ramalinge Gowda on Friday convicted six persons on finding them guilty of murdering a 30-year-old man and setting him on fire.
Those convicted are Anand Naik, Praveen Naik, Vinay Kumar, Prakash, Lokesh and Nagaraj.
According to the charge-sheet filed by Belthagandy Police, 30-year-old Suresh Naik, a resident of Malavantige village of Belthangady, was to get engaged with a girl on April 30, 2017. On April 29, 2017, he left for Ujire to bring sari for the girl.
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Meanwhile, he received a call from Vinay Kumar, who asked the former to approach him for getting relief under a government scheme. Suresh Naik then went missing and his body was found burnt a week later at a secluded place in Alekki village of Belthangady.
Belthangady Circle Inspector Nagesh K. first arrested Vinay Kumar and then arrested the others. The police found that Anand Naik hatched a conspiracy to murder Suresh Naik as he did not want the latter to marry the girl he loved.
The police seized the car in which Suresh Naik was abducted and also the can in which the accused had carried petrol to set the body on fire. DNA test was carried out to confirm that the body found in Alekki village was that of Suresh Naik.
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Prosecutor B. Suresh Shetty examined 28 witnesses, including Suresh Naik’s elderly mother Girija. Defence counsel examined two witnesses.
The Judge convicted the six of offences under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) and 149 (unlawful assembly of the Indian Penal Code. The court posted the case to July 28 for hearing on sentence.