Devaraj, president of the JD(S) youth wing in Anekal taluk, had been to the village to settle a dispute between one of his supporters and his rival Muniraju’s gang.

A row ensued and a member of the Devaraj gang stabbed Nagaraj, the tempo driver. Enraged, eight men of the Muniraju gang assaulted Devaraj and his supporters with clubs and lethal weapons, severely injuring him and his car driver, Manjunath (25). Police said they were bludgeoned to death.

Nagaraj has been admitted to a hospital in Bommasandra.

Devaraj was living in K R Puram, Bangalore, after he was accused in a murder case in 1999. H would, however, visit the Koonamadivala often to meet his friends. The residents of the village suspect that Devaraj was killed to avenge the murder of a member of Muniraju’s gang.

However, when the police rushed to the spot, an eerie silence greeted them. All the houses were closed and the streets were deserted. The residents would not even respond when the police knocked on their doors.

A case has been registered and the final rites of Devaraju were conducted in Dasanapur near Attibele. Manjunath was cremated in his hometown Sunavara, near Anekal.