Mounesh Vishwakarma

Daijiworld Media Network - Bantwal (SP)

Bantwal, Oct 20: The incident in which a person had drowned in River Netravati at Navoor in the taluk on Saturday, which had initially been treated as suicide, has taken a new turn. The police, after preliminary investigation, have concluded that it was a case of murder and arrested five persons.

The body of a local named Suresh (38) had been found from River Netravati on the night of Saturday at Navoor village. The report lodged with the police had claimed that Suresh had approached the river after work on Saturday to wash himself before returning home, but had slipped and drowned. The police had, during preliminary questioning, grown suspicious about the possibility of this being a murder. Therefore, they had intensified their investigation.

It is gathered that Koti alias Harish (45), Hemachandra alias Guru (30), Neelappa (55), and Neelappa's two children, Vasant (26) and Ramesh (24), had taken part in a programme held in a house at Navoor on Saturday night, along with the deceased. They were fully drunk when they reached the banks of the river at around 12 am midnight. On this occasion, Harish and Suresh fought on a frivolous issue, after which Harish pushed Suresh into the river and killed him. The other accused supported Harish in this crime, it is alleged. After killing Suresh, they dragged his body to the river bank, dumped it there, and returned to the house where the programme was continuing, the policemen have learnt.

The police have got information that the accused persons used to work together in areca nut plantations, and had been involved with theft of areca nut several times. The others got angry after Harish, during arguments, threatened the others to expose them by revealing about their involvement with thefts.

Initially, Harish himself had filed a police complaint, in which he had guessed that Suresh would have accidentally drowned. But, Suresh's wife suspected foul play, and complained to the police that her husband was slain by his own friends.

Thereafter, under the guidance of the local subdivision, assistant superintendent of police, Rahul Kumar, police circle inspector, K U Belliappa, and sub-inspector, Rakshiot led a team of policemen that cracked the case within two days. The arrested accused have been subjected to sustained questioning. It is gathered that Koti alias Harish had taken part in several cases of theft in the past. The arrested persons, in all likelihood, would be produced in the court on Tuesday October 20 morning.