JOIN USPolice on Sunday arrested five men on the suspicion of defacing the bust of Kannada matinee idol Dr Rajkumar in Bangarappa Nagar last week. The suspects reportedly confessed to the police that they defaced the bust over “territorial rivalry”.
Police identified the men as Muthuraj, 31, Pradeep Kumar, 25, S Chetan Rao, 22, Ravikiran, and Manjunath, both 19. All of them are residents of Bangarappa Nagar.
Some months ago, Srinivas, president of Dr Rajkumar Seva Samithi from Rajarajeshwari Nagar, had pitched the installation of a Rajkumar bust to Mohan Kumar and Muthuraj in their area, Bangarappa Nagar. They had all agreed and went ahead planning the bust near the bus stand.
When the invitation for the inaugural programme—scheduled for November 23—was printed, Muthuraj and Pradeep realised their names were not printed though it was their area. They decided to spoil the show by setting fire to the bust. Another motive for the crime, police went on, was that the suspects did not like the fact that Srinivas, who is from a different area, was trying to take over the boys from their locality.
A senior police officer said, “They set the bust afire by pouring petrol on it in the early hours of November 13. As soon as the news spread, hundreds of KRV activists and members from Rajkumar Fans’ Association staged a protest in Bangarappa Nagar. The suspects were also seen protesting among them and behaved earnestly, giving no room for suspicion.”
Teen kills ‘lover rival’ pal
A 19-year-old youth was stabbed to death by his friend over an alleged love affair in Valmiki Nagar off Mysore Road on Saturday. Police identified the victim as Chinnaraju, from Valmiki Nagar.
Around 8.30 pm on Saturday, Ramesh stopped Chinnaraju, who was on his way home, and picked up a verbal duel with him. Then in a fit of rage, Ramesh took out a knife and stabbed Chinnaraju in the chest, and fled the spot.
A bleeding Chinnaraju was later taken to a nearby hospital but doctors declared him brought dead. Police said they arrested Ramesh after neighbours tipped them off.