The case pertaining to the torching of BJP MLA M Satish Reddy’s two high-end cars seems to be getting murkier despite the arrest of three men.
On Friday, Bengaluru police stated that the suspects were angry at the rising gap between rich and poor, and wanted to teach wealthy people a lesson. One of them — a 19-year-old Nepalese named Sagar Thapa — had attempted to meet the MLA thrice for a job but didn’t get through to him.
Reddy’s inaccessibility, coupled with the fact that he travelled in luxury cars, angered him so much that he ganged up with the other two suspects — Sridhar, 20, of Begur, and Naveen, 22, of Bandepalya. The trio torched the MLA’s Toyota Fortuner and Mahindra Thar, parked outside his Hongasandra home, in the early hours of August 12.
The case appeared to take a twist on Saturday. While police secured the suspects’ custody to question them in detail, an officer investigating the case suggested that the youths were changing their version as to why they had torched the cars. One of them told the police they wanted to become famous overnight by targeting powerful people.
“They aren’t citing a clear motive. They differ among themselves as to why they did it. We need to question them thoroughly. Maybe, there was a mastermind who worked behind the scenes,” the officer said.
Police will check the suspects’ phones for suspicious calls.
A source in the police said the suspects didn’t have a criminal background nor were they part of any gang. But since it’s a sensitive case, police want to dig deeper. At least a week is required to unravel the mystery, the source added.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Reddy claimed that the suspects weren’t jobless — as the police had stated on Friday — but that they worked as cable operators. He suggested that the men acted at someone else’s behest, and asked the police to track down that person.
As for Thapa’s claim that he couldn’t get through to him, the MLA said he had come to meet him at night when no one was around and that’s why he didn’t succeed.
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