'Supari' to murder MLA: Police arrest Congman's aide

The Rajanukunte police have arrested Kulla Devaraj, a close aide of Congress leader M N Gopalakrishna, and registered an FIR, following a complaint by MLA and BDA chairman S R Vishwanath over an alleged plot to murder him.

The officials issued a notice at Gopalakrishna’s residence on Hesaraghatta Road, but he was not present there.

A senior officer told DH that they have arrested Devaraj, a resident of Attur Layout.

Devaraj was told over the phone to appear before the investigating officer on Thursday morning. After questioning, the police arrested him.

“If Gopalakrishna doesn’t respond to our notice, action will be taken legally,” the officer said.

The police have registered an FIR in the case after taking permission from the court.

Sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC have been invoked in the case.

Vishwanath, in his complaint, said that he had learnt that Gopalakrishna and Devaraj wanted to bring men from Andhra Pradesh to kill him, as they were jealous of his service to the people.

He said that the duo had forced Kadabagere Seena aka Srinivas to name him and his aides in an attempt-to-murder case to tarnish his image.

Vishwanath said Gopalakrishna wanted to get him killed by ‘supari’ (contract) killers to get political advantage.

Meanwhile, the police are trying to get the unedited version of the video that has gone viral.

“We have confirmation that the video available in public domain is edited. Once we get the unedited video, we will get to know what exactly the conversation was,” said a senior officer.

The officials also got an audio clip, said to be of a conversation between ‘Kulla’ Devaraj and Gopalakrishna.

The officers are verifying it and are questioning a few other suspects.

How ACB got a tip-off

An assistant commissioner of police attached to the Central Crime Branch (CCB), on November 30, had got a tip off that a gang of five ‘supari’ killers had come to kill a prominent person in the city.

The informant told him that they were in a hotel near Anand Rao circle. The ACP went to the hotel, picked five persons, including Gopalakrishna and Devaraj, took them to the CCB office and questioned them.

The ACP had not informed his superiors about visiting the hotel or questioning the suspects. The police top brass is yet to get a proper explanation from the ACP over not bringing the information about the five persons to their notice.

MLA supporters’ protest

The supporters of Vishwanath gathered in front of the Rajanukunte police station on Thursday and staged a protest, demanding the arrest of Gopalakrishna and others involved in the conspiracy against Vishwanath. The police convinced the crowd to drop the protest and promised action in the case.