New Delhi, Mar 3 (IANS): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday said that it has arrested six accused in connection with the murder of BJP taluka panchayat member Yogesh Gowda, a resident of Dharwad in Karnataka, in 2016.

A senior CBI official said that the agency has arrested Dinesh, Sunil, Nutan, Ashwath, Shahnawaz and Nazeer Ahmed on February 29. According to the official, these are the first arrests in the case which was taken over by the CBI in September last year.

The official said the accused were produced before a special court in Bengaluru which sent them to five days CBI custody.

Sources in the probe agency said the operation is going on and more suspects may be held based on the information gathered from the questioning of these accused.

However, the CBI did not comment on the role of these accused in the murder of Gowda. Gowda was killed in his gym on June 15, 2016 by unidentified men. The agency took over the probe on the recommendation of the Karnataka government on September 24, 2019.

Earlier, Karnataka Police had filed a chargesheet in the murder case on September 9, 2016. According to the CBI, Gowda ran a gym in Dharwad and was a friend of Basavaraj Shivappa Muttagi, the prime accused, for the last 10 years with different political inclinations. Gowda came to know about a land purchase deal by Muttagi.

As per the CBI, Gowda had threatened Muttagi that he should not purchase the land as it was under his custody and if he still proceeded, he would kill him. Gowda was killed in his gym by the accomplices of Muttagi, who first sprinkled chilli powder on his face before hacking him to death.