A rowdy-sheeter was murdered on Sunday evening on the premises of the Bangalore Football Stadium (BFS), causing panic among spectators who had come to watch a match scheduled for the day and among the players who were about to enter the field.
In front of eye-witnesses, a group of armed men chased the victim, a habitual offender, onto the pitch, followed him into the referees’ room where he attempted to lock himself, and hacked him to death.
Following this attack, the KSFA ‘A’ division women’s football league was postponed.
Around 3.45 p.m., minutes before the match between Roots FC and GRK Football Youth Club (FYC) was to begin, people saw the armed assailants chasing the victim, identified as Aravind, a rowdy-sheeter from Bharathi Nagar.
Aravind was hacked to death in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Aravind jumped the stand gallery to escape and locked himself in one of the referees’ rooms nearby, but the assailants broke open the door and hacked him to death before fleeing the spot .
According to the police, Aravind, who was being chased by his alleged rivals, entered the BFS premises in an attempt to escape. The Ashok Nagar police arrived at the spot shortly after the murder.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) M.N. Anucheth said that Aravind had come to the area to play a football match at the BBMP grounds opposite the BFS. “He was also managing one of the teams there,” said Mr. Anucheth.
Karnataka State Football Association (KSFA) secretary M. Satyanarayana stated the victim was not affiliated with any club.
“Women players from Roots FC and GRK FYC, who were getting ready to enter the pitch, witnessed the chase. They did not witness the murder. The players were quickly escorted out of the stadium by tournament officials. The police arrived at the stadium in quick time to investigate the case,” he said.
The police suspect an old rivalry as the motive behind the murder and are tracking down the assailants.
Aravind had multiple cases pending against him and had been arrested under the Goondas Act. He came out of prison on bail two months ago, a police officer said .
The police have taken up a case of murder and formed two special teams to track down the assailants. They are questioning eyewitnesses at both, the BFS and the adjoinging BBMP ground. “We have obtained CCTV footage to identify the accused and have some clues,” the police added.
