CID sleuths, who were earlier given six-day custody of Fayaz Khandunayak, accused in the murder of student Neha Hiremath, on Tuesday produced him before court which then remanded him in judicial custody.
As the six-day custody of the accused ended on Tuesday, the CID sleuths produced him before First Additional Civil and JMFC Court and did not seek further extension of custody following which the court remanded the accused in judicial custody, sources said.
Trade charges
Meanwhile, speaking to presspersons in Hubballi, Health and Family Welfare Minister and Dharwad Lok Sabha in-charge for Congress Dinesh Gundu Rao and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok traded charges.
Mr. Ashok, who met Neha’s family at Bidnal in Hubballi on Tuesday along with the former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and MLA Mahesh Tenginakai, told presspersons that the State government had acted in a negligent manner while handling the murder of Neha Hiremath.
He sought to know why there was a hurry in sending the accused to judicial custody instead of taking him into police custody and investigating the matter properly.
He said that the police not only did not seek custody of the accused but also failed to investigate the crime from different angles, thus giving room for suspicion that attempts were being made to hush up the case.
Mr. Ashok sought to know why the police had failed to investigate about his background, his association with any organisation, whether he had plans to convert Neha forcibly, his acquaintances and such other details.
And, till date, barring him, no arrests have been made in the case which pointed towards Love Jihad, he said.
On the Congress charge of the BJP trying to politicise the issue, he said that the party is pursuing the issue because of initial inaction and improper investigation. It has nothing to do with elections, he said.
When asked about why the party had not spoken a word about the murder of a Muslim woman in Tumakuru, he just said that the party will stand in support of every woman.
Mr. Gundu Rao, on the other hand, accused the BJP of politicising the issue for the sake of getting political mileage out of it during elections.
He said that the BJP will resort to agitation only if it is beneficial to it politically. The BJP leaders indulged in petty politics for the sake of getting more votes in the elections.
“If they are really concerned about women, why did they not raise the issue of the murder of a Muslim woman in Tumakuru. Your double standards will soon be exposed,” he said.
