<p>Tabloid editor Ravi Belagere, arrested on Friday, denied he had hired a killer to eliminate his colleague Sunil Heggaravalli.</p>.<p>"I groomed him. He was a member of my family for 15 years. Why would I want him dead?" is what he told the police on Saturday.</p>.<p>The police took Belagere into custody on December 8, soon after the arrest of Shashidhar Mundewadi, whom they describe as a contract killer.</p>.<p>Sources privy to the investigation told DH a team, headed by DCP Jinendra Kanagavi, asked Belagere specific questions: "Why did you conspire to kill Sunil Heggaravalli? How do you know Shashidhar Mundewadi? How much did you promise to pay him?"</p>.<p>Belagere flatly denied all the charges.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"If Heggaravalli had cheated me, I would have slapped him and counselled him. I had the liberty. He is no big rival that I had to kill him," a source quoted Belagere as saying.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Belagere is housed at the office of ACP Subramanya. He has been provided a bed and a chair. A doctor is on standby to check his condition every two hours, a source said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Meanwhile, the Central Crime Branch on Saturday continued searches on premises owned by Belagere.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A team visited his farm house in Joida in Uttara Kannada district, while another searched a building in Rajarajeshwari Nagar and seized some documents, according to Kanagavi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A house named Hima Belegere in Pattanagere in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, where Belagere's second wife Yashomathi lives, was also searched.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The police said the house was searched in her presence and a statement was obtained from her.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Gauri Lankesh murder</p>.<p class="bodytext">The police are also questioning Mundewadi in connection with the sensational shooting of journalist Gauri Lankesh.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Call records of his phone show he was in touch with gun runners in Goa and Maharashtra, police said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mundewadi was arrested by the Maharashtra Police on September 14 in connection with an arms case.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The police hope to get leads from him on sharpshooters and weapon dealers to crack the Gauri case, sources said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Meanwhile, police in Vijayapura are looking for Mundewadi's accomplice Viji Badiger, who had visited Belagere on October 28.</p>.<p class="byline">DH News Service</p>
<p>Tabloid editor Ravi Belagere, arrested on Friday, denied he had hired a killer to eliminate his colleague Sunil Heggaravalli.</p>.<p>"I groomed him. He was a member of my family for 15 years. Why would I want him dead?" is what he told the police on Saturday.</p>.<p>The police took Belagere into custody on December 8, soon after the arrest of Shashidhar Mundewadi, whom they describe as a contract killer.</p>.<p>Sources privy to the investigation told DH a team, headed by DCP Jinendra Kanagavi, asked Belagere specific questions: "Why did you conspire to kill Sunil Heggaravalli? How do you know Shashidhar Mundewadi? How much did you promise to pay him?"</p>.<p>Belagere flatly denied all the charges.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"If Heggaravalli had cheated me, I would have slapped him and counselled him. I had the liberty. He is no big rival that I had to kill him," a source quoted Belagere as saying.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Belagere is housed at the office of ACP Subramanya. He has been provided a bed and a chair. A doctor is on standby to check his condition every two hours, a source said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Meanwhile, the Central Crime Branch on Saturday continued searches on premises owned by Belagere.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A team visited his farm house in Joida in Uttara Kannada district, while another searched a building in Rajarajeshwari Nagar and seized some documents, according to Kanagavi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A house named Hima Belegere in Pattanagere in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, where Belagere's second wife Yashomathi lives, was also searched.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The police said the house was searched in her presence and a statement was obtained from her.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Gauri Lankesh murder</p>.<p class="bodytext">The police are also questioning Mundewadi in connection with the sensational shooting of journalist Gauri Lankesh.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Call records of his phone show he was in touch with gun runners in Goa and Maharashtra, police said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mundewadi was arrested by the Maharashtra Police on September 14 in connection with an arms case.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The police hope to get leads from him on sharpshooters and weapon dealers to crack the Gauri case, sources said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Meanwhile, police in Vijayapura are looking for Mundewadi's accomplice Viji Badiger, who had visited Belagere on October 28.</p>.<p class="byline">DH News Service</p>
