Karnataka High Court rejects bail plea of former minister in murder case

Dharwad: High Court of Karnataka, Dharwad Bench, on Thursday rejected the bail plea of former minister and Congress leader Vinay Kulkarni. The single-bench court headed by Justice K N Nataraj which heard the arguments from both sides on Wednesday, granted more time to the CBI on Thursday.

Vinay Kulkarni, arrested by the CBI on November 5 in connection with the murder of zilla panchayat member Yogeeshgouda Goudar, has been remanded in judicial custody. He is now lodged in Hindalga Jail in Belagavi.

According to reports, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju who argued on behalf of the CBI told the court that this's a sensational murder case and the investigating team started interrogating the suspects. Till date, statements of 164 persons have been recorded. "The CBI is probing the role of the former minister in the murder of the ZP member," said Raju and appealed to the court not to grant bail to the accused as the investigation was in a crucial stage. Advocate Shashikiran Shetty who appeared on behalf of Vinay said that the former minister was not involved in this incident and his arrest was politically motivated.

The Congress leader approached the High Court after the Special CBI Court rejected his bail plea. The High Court asked the CBI to file objections before December 22. Following a plea by CBI counsel, it granted time till Wednesday (January 6) to file objections. The investigating agency again sought more time to file detailed objections. The CBI reportedly found that Vinay Kulkarni, Congress leader and former mines and geology minister, was allegedly a participant in the conspiracy which led to the BJP worker's murder. According to the CBI investigation, Vinay had allegedly told Yogeeshgouda Goudar not to contest the ZP elections, which the latter had refused. Kulkarni and Yogeeshgouda Goudar are said to have had heated exchanges on several occasions. A serious altercation had taken place during a Zilla Panchayat meeting chaired by Kulkarni on April 22, 2016, which reportedly triggered the conspiracy to murder Yogeeshgouda Goudar.

Later Chandrashekhar Indi, a relative of Kulkarni was arrested by CBI, for allegedly procuring and supplying three country-made pistols to Basappa Shivappa Muttagi, who allegedly executed Goudar's murder. During the investigation, the CBI also seized contraband pistols from Muttagi, and one of these was found to be the murder weapon.

Goudar, a BJP Zilla Panchayat member, was killed in his gym in Dharwad by unidentified men on June 15, 2016. The case was initially investigated by the Karnataka police, who filed a chargesheet against six accused persons on September 9, 2016. The case was later handed over to the CBI, after the BJP government came to power.