Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni, 15 others given life sentence in Yogesh Gowda murder case

BENGALURU: Sixteen of the 17 accused in the in the murder case of Dharwad BJP leader Yogesh Gowda, including Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni, were handed life imprisonment by a special court for elected representatives on Friday. The court had convicted them on Wednesday.

The judge had heard the pleas of all convicts on Thursday and the sentencing had been put off to Friday. The police brought all the accused to the court on Friday as well, and family members were seen wailing. The wailing continued while they were speaking in the court premises.

Basavaraj Muttagi had turned approver in the case.

The 17 convicts were present in court. The court first took the attendance of the convicts while the judge was signing the order. While 16 convicts have been sentenced to life, police inspector Channakeshava Tinkarikar has been sentenced to 7 years, the maximum punishment for destruction of evidence. A corruption case has also been registered against Inspector Tinkarikar. The court confirmed approver status for Basavaraj Muttagi.

The court directed that Rs 16 lakh compensation be given to the children of deceased Yogesh Gowda.The convicts submitted a request stating they had not been given a chance to change clothes for three days and sought permission to change clothes. The court accepted the convicts’ plea and instructed that opportunity be provided as per the jail manual.

After returning to jail on Thursrday, Vinay Kulkarni has been worried. He remained in the quarantine cell and was tense, not even eating properly last night. He also discussed with his lawyers about the fear of losing his MLA seat.