Attack on APMC chief: police pick up one of 2 shooters

3 other suspects held too; incident 'politically motivated'

Police claim to have picked up one of the two motorcycle-borne men who pumped 12 bullets into Dasanapura APMC president, Kadabagere Srinivas, at a busy traffic junction in northern Bengaluru on February 3. They also picked up three others.

Police are certain that the daylight attack at Kogilu Cross on Ballari Road was “politically motivated” but are yet to zero in on the kingpin. The four men picked up on Thursday hail from Machohalli village. A senior police officer, who is overseeing the investigation, said the suspects were yet to spill the beans on their handler and the larger conspiracy. “They were clearly acting at someone’s behest, but we don’t know yet who  he is,” the officer said. Police picked up the four men on the basis of information given by Sathish, a local BJP worker who was arrested in the case earlier.

The assailants shadowed Srinivas for at least four days before firing at him from a country-made pistol sourced from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh. For two days before the attack, they tailed him on a motorbike.

They got to know that he would visit the Yelahanka market around 11 am on February 3. They decided to target him on the Yeshwantpur flyover but dropped the idea as there was heavy traffic. Then they decided to waylay him on the Hebbal flyover, but backtracked for the same reason. Still, they didn’t give up the chase. They found an opportunity when Srinivas was returning from the market, and accosted him at Kogilu Cross, the officer said.

Police have found CCTV footage which shows two motorbikes tailing Srinivas’s car in Yeshwantpur, on West of Chord Road and at Kempapura junction. Srinivas and his brother ‘Poison’ Rama made many enemies in the Bengaluru underworld in the last decade, especially for real state and political reasons, the officer said.

Meanwhile, Srinivas continues to be on the ventilator in the ICU, said Prashanth N, General Manager, Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal. Police said he was recovering slowly and could be questioned on Friday if doctors so permitted.

Police clarified there was no evidence yet of underworld don Agni Sridhar’s involvement in the attack. He is currently in police custody but has been hospitalised after he complained of chest pain. He will be interrogated once he recovers, police said.

Tata Ramesh case

Police on Thursday arrested two more persons for threatening a local Congress worker, Tata Ramesh. Vijay Kumar and Kumar alias ‘Cable’ Kumar were picked up while travelling to Vidyaranyapura by car. Police said they had recovered lethal weapons from them. “The men were among those who had threatened Ramesh. We arrested them on the basis of information given by Sathish, Rohith alias ‘Onte’, ‘Silent’ Sunil,” P S Harsha, DCP (Northeast), said. Rohith and Sunil were arrested earlier.

Vijay Kumar and ‘Cable’ Kumar face 10 cases, including murder and attempt to murder.

Crackdown on rowdies

Police raided a building in Sarjapur late on Wednesday night and picked up about 30 rowdies who were allegedly conspiring to commit a series of crimes in the next weeks. As many as 10,000 history-sheeters in and around Bengaluru are likely to be picked up.

The action comes after Bengaluru Police Commissioner Praveen Sood instructed the Central Crime Branch (CCB) to make a list of history-sheeters and parade them in a week. Sood decided to crack down on the underworld as gangs have been fighting each other to control the lucrative real estate business in the city. A number of murders related to the real estate business have taken over the last few years, police said.