Youth killed over rivalry regarding construction of chowk, alleges family

VIJAYAPURA: Close on the heels of the brutal murder of Praveen Nettaru, a Hindu youth has been hacked to death over rivalry regarding construction of the Tipu Sultan-Shivaji Maharaj Chowk at Kadani village in Alamela taluk on August 23.

A group of eight Muslim youths has been accused of murdering Prashanth Mahadevappa Kshatri. Shockingly, the police have allegedly tried to give a twist to the incident by registering an FIR stating that the murder was a result of a love affair gone wrong.

It is alleged that Basheer Mulla, Riyaz Mulla, Lalasab Mulla, Raju Mulla, Moinuddin Mulla, Arif Mulla, Shakeel Mulla and Rashid Moratagi had murdered Prashanth.

Prabhu Mahadevappa Kshatri, brother of the deceased.

On Thursday, the Kshatriya Okkoota and several other organisations staged a protest in Vijayapura city demanding that the investigation in the case be handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

“They hatched a conspiracy and killed my brother. He was kidnapped from our house around 10 pm on August 23, taken near their farm and killed there”, said Prabhu Mahadevappa Kshatri.

Prakash Mahadevappa Kshatri.

Prakash Mahadevappa Kshatri, another brother, said, “The girl’s family too has denied any such relationship with my brother. The men came to attack me too. If it was a case of love affair, why would they target me? Me and Prashanth were the first to raise the issue of Shivaji Maharaj Chowk. Later on, we decided to go by what the village elders say. They have killed by brother over rivalry regarding the Tipu Sultan-Shivaji Maharaj Chowk. They came to attack me too, but I was saved a pet dog”.