A day after the murderous attack on Binnamangala Krishnappa alias BEML Krishnappa, Janata Dal (Secular) leader from Nelamangala, on National Highway 4 near Nelamangala, the Bangalore Rural District police have made no arrests yet.
Special teams have been formed under the Inspector-General of Police (Central Range) Malini Krishnamurthy to track the gang, believed to be affiliated to Krishnappa’s rival Bettangere Seena.
Krishnappa, a front runner for the Janata Dal (Secular) ticket for the Dasarahalli Assembly constituency in the next elections, was shot and hacked to death by a mob of more than 35 persons on Wednesday night. He represented the Begur segment in the zilla panchayat.
Bangalore Rural Superintendent of Police Prakash told The Hindu : “We are now concentrating on tracking down the gang members.”
He said that Seena, who was booked under the Goonda Act, was released from jail last year after a serving eight or nine months.
Dead man identified
Meanwhile, the Nelamangala police on Thursday, identified the gangster shot dead by Krishnappa’s gunman as Kempalinganahalli Deva (30). A lorry driver and alleged associate of Seena, he was involved in land dealing around Nelamangala.
Among the injured in Wednesday evening’s ambush near Arashinakunte is Krishnappa’s driver Thimmaiah, who is believed to be in a critical state.
Four others — Narasimhamurthy, Simharayappa, Naveen Kumar and Ramakrishna alias Hegde — said to be Krishnappa’s men, are recuperating in a private hospital in Bangalore.
Vehicles found
The police found two vehicles — one goods carrier and another maxi cab — that were allegedly used by the assailants to carry out their mission. The vehicles were found abandoned at Nagarur near Nelamangala on Thursday. The goods carrier’s front and rear registration plates did not match, the police said.
Last rites performed
Krishnappa’s family performed his last rites in his native place on Thursday afternoon in the presence of thousands of his supporters.
A host of political leaders from the Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress visited the family to offer their condolences. Among them were the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, the former Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Forest Minister C.P. Yogeshwar, MLC E. Krishnappa and MLA Nagaraj.
Nelamangala town, which was tense on Wednesday night after the ambush, returned to routine life with very visible police presence. In a bid to prevent revenge killings, additional personnel were summoned from surrounding districts and prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Cr.P.C. imposed for three days.
