Yahya Hallare

Daijiworld Media Network – Bhatkal (MS)

Bhatkal, Feb 25: Four members of a family were hacked to death on the afternoon of Friday at Haduvalli of the taluk.

The deceased have been identified as Shambhu Venkataraman Bhat (65), his wife Madevi Bhat (58), their son Raghavendra aka Raju Bhat (40) and Raghavendra's wife Kusuma Raghavenda Bhat (32).

On examining the location, it was found that the houses in this area surrounded by forests are at a considerable distance from each other, therefore, despite murdering four people with sharp weapons in broad daylight, the news could not remained hidden for hours.

Bhatkal rural police station (file photo)

Shambhu Bhat's body was found about 50 meters from his house, his son's body was found at a distance of about 25 steps behind him, probably moving forward to try to save his father. His mother's body was lying on one side and his wife's body on the other side. The bodies of all four were found lying outside their house in a blood-soaked condition.

The close relatives of deceased people present at the spot said that Shridhar Bhat, the eldest son of the deceased Shambhu Bhat, had died about eight years ago due to kidney failure. Shridhar Bhat's wife Vaidya Bhat had a problem with her father-in-law Shambhu Bhat regarding the share in the property. It has been alleged that Vaidya Bhat's brother Vinay Bhat committed the murder. Vaidya Bhat and her father Shridhar Bhat are also among the accused in this murder. (Vaidya Bhat's husband and father are both named Shridhar Bhat). The main accused, Vinay Bhat, is absconding.

At the time of the murder, deceased Raju Bhat's six-year-old elder son had been to school, while his three-year-old daughter was asleep inside the house. Both are safe.

As soon as the incident was reported, SP Vishnuvardhan from Karwar along with his personnel reached Bhatkal, and after inspecting the incident, ordered the bodies to be shifted to Bhatkal government hospital for post-mortem. Bhatkal DySP Shrikanth, Rural Police Station Circle Police Inspector Chandan Gopal, Bhatkal Assistant Commissioner Mamata Devi, Tahsildar Ashok Bhat, and many other police officials had reached the spot.

Taking stock of the situation, Uttara Kannada additional SP C T Jai Kumar told reporters that three teams have been formed to arrest the main culprit and all three will be arrested as soon as possible. He said that a case has been registered in this connection in the Bhatkal rural police station.