Another key accused in Hirenagaveli blast case held

The number of persons arrested in connection with the blast at a crusher at Hirenagaveli, Chikkaballapur district, is now eight after the police nabbed G S Nagaraj, one of the four partners of the quarry and a local BJP leader.

Known as Gudibande Nagaraj, he was one of the main accused in the quarry explosion case. He was on the run since the explosion claimed the lives of six labourers of the crusher during the late hours of February 22. The tragedy occurred when they were attempting to hide the cache of explosives in the forest land behind the crusher, after raids by authorities earlier in the day.

Another person identified as Ganesh, hailing from Tamil Nadu, was also arrested by the police for questioning, as he is learnt to have to conducted blasting at the crusher a few months ago.

Nagaraj was among the four partners running the quarry. Three others, Venkatashiva Reddy, Raghavendra Reddy and Madhusudan Reddy were arrested on Thursday.

According to Chikkaballapur police, eight accused in the blast case are now arrested. A total of 15 people were named in the FIR, which was initially filed against the crusher on February 7 and updated post the explosion.

Apart from the six people who perished in the incident, one more dead person - Imthiyaz, one of the partners of the quarry, who passed away two months ago - was also named in the FIR filed by the police.

CID officials, who took over the case, launched their investigation into the incident.