The Kalaburagi Police on Tuesday arrested five persons in connection with the murder of Gururaj Kulkarni, a resident of Akkamahadevi Nagar, who was bludgeoned to death on Thursday last.
The names of the arrested persons were given as Pavan Jagirdar (35), Prasanna Jagirdar (29), Santosh Janabi (28), residents of Brahmapur locality, Ajay Rathod (20) and Avinash Chavan (20), both residents of Balabatti Tanda in Jewargi taluk of the district.
During interrogation, it came to light that the accused Pavan Jagirdhar offered Ajay Rathod and Avinash Chavan a contract for ₹5 lakh to kill Gururaj Kulkarni. He paid ₹10,000 in advance to them.
Gururaj Kulkarni and Pavan Jagirdhar had quarrelled several times when the accused beat up a pet dog that belonged to the former as it frequented his house causing nuisance. Gururaj Kulkarni had also lodged a complaint against Pavan Jagirdhar in the Rural Police Station in this connection.
On Thursday last, Pavan Jagirdhar invited him for striking a compromise over the feud and to ask him to withdraw the case lodged against him. When Gururaj Kulkarni refused to withdraw the case, Pavan Jagirdhar and four of his friends bludgeoned him to death with a heavy stone, the police said.
