Congress leader found dead under a bridge in Vijayapura

Congress leader Reshma Padekanur (35) was found dead suspiciously below Kolhar bridge in the town on Friday.

Reshma’s husband, Khaja Bandenawaz Padekanur, has accused Toufiq Ismail Sheikh, leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM party), of Solapur, Maharashtra in the murder.

In a complaint to the police, Padekanur has stated that Reshma and Toufiq were involved in financial dealings. Toufiq owed Rs 13 lakh to Reshma and they both had quarrelled over the matter a few days ago. A complaint was regostered in this regard at the Solapur police station. On Thursday around midnight, Toufiq called Reshma to come out of the house to discuss money matters and murdered her, according to the complaint. Police say murder may have been committed somewhere else and the body dumped below the Kolhar bridge.

Reshma was a member of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and began her political career after joining the JD(S). She was the president of the women’s unit of the Vijayapura district JD(S). She contested the from the Devara Hipparagi Assembly constitutuency in 2013. In the 2018 Assembly elections, she quit the JD(S) and joined the Congress.