‘Govt will deal with it in its own way’: Shivakumar on BJP demand for CBI probe into Neha murder

BENGALURU: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Monday said that his government has no objection to a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Hubballi murder case, but added that his government will deal with the case in their own way.

The remarks came after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded a CBI probe into the murder of the daughter of a Congress councillor in Hubballi, who was stabbed to death on the BVB College campus last week. The BJP has alleged that the police are trying to ‘divert’ the case.

“Let them do whatever they want to do, we have no objection to what they want to do. The Karnataka government will deal with this case in its own way, there is no question of it”, Shivakumar said.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: On BJP's demand to handover Hubbali murder case to CBI, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar says, "We don't mind, let them handover. Let them do whatever they want. They are not eligible. Karnataka government will deal with it in its own way. There is no… pic.twitter.com/bXJ4JhgwGt

— ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2024

Niranjan Hiremath, the father of the murdered girl in Hubballi, has demanded a CBI investigation into the incident. He also demanded that the police commissioner should be transferred for alleged “negligence”.

“I have given the names of eight people openly. They have not even caught one person. I am losing faith now. They are trying to divert my case. Give it to CBI if you cannot do it. The commissioner in this case is a lady, even then she is not taking a girl’s murder seriously. She is working under some pressure. I demand the commissioner should be transferred for negligence in the case. I demand that the case should be given to CBI”, Hiremath said on Sunday.

BJP chief JP Nadda on Sunday also voiced Hiremath’s demand for a CBI investigation. “This is a shocking incident and we condemn it. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s and Home Minister G Parameshwara’s statements on this incident are objectionable. Their statements dilute the investigation. The people of Karnataka will not spare the current government for its appeasement politics”, Nadda said.

“The state government should hand over the case to the CBI if the state police are incapable of a fair probe. Hiremath has also demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident as he has less faith in the state police”, he added.

The murder of college student Neha Hiremath by her former classmate Fayaz has triggered a political row, with BJP terming it a case of ‘love jihad’, while the Congress party has denied the allegation. Demands for capital punishment for Fayaz, the accused, have led to protests across the state.

BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said that, prima facie, it looks like a love jihad case. “So rather than getting into the investigation, the CM is trying to protect the culprits”, he alleged.

However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rubbished the claims of ‘love jihad’ in the case. He said that the murder of Congress corporator’s daughter Neha Hiremath in Hubballi is not a case of ‘love jihad’ as alleged by the BJP.

The accused, Mohammed Fayaz Babasaheb Khondunayak, who fled the scene, was arrested by police subsequently. Neha was a first-year MCA student and Fayaz was her former classmate. (ANI)