Hindu Mahasabha chief Swami Pranavananda and his driver were questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police on Thursday in connection with the shooting of noted scholar M.M. Kalburgi. According to sources, Pranavananda and his driver were questioned at Ranebennur in Haveri district. The head of the right-wing group had in the past issued a veiled threat against Prof. Kalburgi and others who had “insulted” the Hindu religion.
The questioning, however, made no headway into the probe. Sleuths have reportedly told their higher-ups in an informal meeting on Thursday that the angles being probed — property disputes within the family, professional jealousy, and possible action by violent pro-Kannada and pro-Hindutva groups — had not yielded any results.