Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Mar 4: A Congress leader, who also was a real estate businessman, was chased around by a gang of brutes who hacked him to death in broad daylight on Tuesday March 3 morning. The deceased has been identified as Nataraj (40), a resident of Peenya second stage in the city.

Nataraj was building a house for himself in Tigalarapalya near Tavarekere. During his visit for inspecting progress of construction, a gang of three masked men, who came in an auto rickshaw and brandished lethal weapons, killed him in savagely fashion. The policemen said that Nataraj was hit with machetes and swords by the men who escaped after executing the murder plan.

Nataraj had inspected his house under construction. When returning, he met an acquaintance named Kalyanappa, and was talking to him for sometime. At around 10 am, three men alighted from an auto rickshaw and suddenly launched an attack on Nataraj. Nataraj, who was hit on his head, chest and neck, collapsed on the spot. Kalyanappa, who tried to help his friend, was also attacked with sharp weapons. He is presently undergoing treatment in a private hospital. The attack was so brutal that the entire portion above the chest including the skull were separated from Nataraj's body.

The police said that Nataraj, who was a real estate businessman, had of late emerged as a local Congress leader. It is said that the deceased had performed his daughter's marriage five days back.

Ramanagara district superintendent of police, Dr Chandragupta, and deputy superintendent of police, Laxmiganesh, visited the spot and guided operations. Laxmiganesh said that the police are yet to come to a conclusion about the motive behind this murder, adding that it could be professional rivalry or long-standing feud.

Many feel that this attack had something to do with rivalry within real estate businessmen, because of steeply rising prices of land in Tavarekere, Nelamangala, and nearby places.