B'luru: Seven-member gang held for killing driver over card game dispute

The Nandini Layout police have arrested a seven-member gang for killing 35-year-old cabbie, sheep farmer and Congress worker Ravi alias Matti Ravi.

Ravi was murdered on May 24 in Chowdeshwarinagar near Laggere, North Bengaluru.

The arrested — K Manjunatha alias Manja, 42; Nagaraj alias Spot Naga, 38; Kiran Kumar N, 29; Manikandan K alias Mani, 23; Karthik S, 34; Babu alias Hasige, 32; and B C Gopal alias Gopi, 35 — have confessed that two of them had lost money to Ravi while playing cards during Ugadi. They demanded the money back and killed Ravi as he refused to pay them.

Six of them are residents of Chowdeshwarinagar and Prama Nagar in Laggere, while Gopi lives in Annapoorneshwarinagar.

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Ravi was a driver and did sheep farming besides being an active member of the Congress party. On May 24, Ravi attended the birthday party of Congress functionary Krishnamurthy in Chowdeshwarinagar around 7.45 pm. He returned home around 9.45 pm and informed his wife, Pushpa, about a disagreement he had with a few friends over a trivial matter.

Manja repeatedly called Ravi and asked him to meet him near 50 Feet Rd. Ravi did not return home until 12.10 am.

Ravi's friend Narasimha visited his house and informed Pushpa that Manja and his friends had attacked Ravi. An injured Ravi was immediately taken to MS Ramaiah Hospital. Krishnamurthy also told Pushpa that Manja, Spot Naga, Gopi, Kiran, and Mani were responsible for her husband's murder due to some personal disagreement.

A police team under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Shiva Prakash Devaraju arrested the gang. During questioning, the police discovered that Manjunath and Nagaraj had lost money to Ravi while playing cards during Ugadi.

Initially, Ravi refused to return the money he won during the game. However, the duo forcibly took some money from him. Ravi insisted that they return the money they had taken, prompting them to stab him with a dagger and crush his head with a stone.

Police clarified that the accused and the deceased were members of the Congress party, and the murder was not politically motivated.