Former MLAs son gunned down over property dispute

The son of a former legislator, also the chairman of an educational institution, was gunned down by unidentified miscreants at Dhamane village in the taluk late on Tuesday.

Arun Nandihalli, 53, a resident of Ramdev Galli in Vadagaon and son of freedom fighter and former MLA Parashuram Nandihalli who represented then Uchagaon constituency before delimitation, is the victim. According to police, Arun, accompanied by his first wife Mangala and their son Avadhoot, had visited the house of his second wife in Dhamane village. In the evening, while he was returning to the city alone in his car, the vehicle was waylaid and he was shot dead by unidentified miscreants.

Perpetrators shot Arun from very close range in his chest with a country-made weapon. The incident occurred between 10.15 pm and 10.30 pm. Pedestrians, who saw Arun bleeding profusely, informed the family members. Subsequently, the jurisdictional police rushed to the spot. He succumbed to injuries on the way to the hospital.

Arun’s body had bullet injuries on the chest and an exit wound in the back. Police Commissioner B S Lokesh Kumar told mediapersons that there was a dispute between deceased Arun and his siblings over sharing of the property of the private educational institution. Arun had taken money from some people, promising them jobs in the institution, it is said.

The wife of the deceased has registered a police complaint, suspecting the involvement of five persons. The Belagavi Rural police are investigating the case.