Daijiworld Media Network - Dharwad (SP)

Dharwad, Jun 16: BJP activist and member of the zilla panchayat here, Yogeesh Gowda, was hacked to death by masked men on Wednesday June 15 morning in his own gym in the city with lethal weapons.

Although reasons for the attack could not be immediately known, people suspect that political differences or land dispute might have triggered this attack. Leader of the opposition in state assembly, Jagadish Shettar, and MP, Prahlad Joshi, had urged the government to order high level investigation into this murder.

Yogeesh owns a gym which functions in the ground floor of a complex on the busy Saptapur Road here. He had the habit of visiting his gym every morning for workout. As usual, Yogeesh had completed his workout at the gym and was reading a daily by sitting on the platform in front of the gym, when five to six masked men who reached the spot in a car at about 7.45 am suddenly attacked him with weapons including swords and knives. Yogeesh tried to escape from them by running into the gym and throwing things he could lay his hands on, at those who chased him.

The miscreants succeeded in spraying chilli powder into the eyes of Yogeesh and attacking him at will with sharp weapons before speeding in the car. Gowda, who was bleeding profusely, collapsed at the spot and breathed his last.