Vinay's arrest not politically motivated: Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayana

Bengaluru: Former minister and Congress leader Vinay Kulkarni was on Thursday detained by the CBI in Dharwad district in connection with murder of then zilla panchayat member and BJP leader Yogeshgouda Goudar. The CBI also questioned Vinay's brother Vijay Kulkarni.

Reacting to Vijay Kulkarn's arrest, Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayana denied any political motive behind the arrest by CBI.

"The case was filed against the former minister following by many protests across Hubli-Dharwad demanding his arrest. The case was referred to the CBI for investigation. Maybe the CBI officials got some major lead on this case and the former minister was arrested. So it's unfair to blame the BJP government for this CBI move. It's not politically motivated," Ashwaththa Narayana said.

After Kulkarni was taken to the Dharwad suburban police station, Congress workers gathered outside the station alleging political witch-hunt. It was reported that many workers protested wearing black wrist bands. After interrogating Vinay for more than 10 hours, the CBI team produced him before the second additional district court at 6:00 pm and sought his three-day custody. However, Vinay was sent to judicial custody for a day and CBI officials were instructed to produce Vinay before the court by 11:30 am on Friday.

Yogesh Goudar was hacked to death in June 2016 in a gymnasium in Dharwad. His family alleged that Kulkarni was behind the killing because of political rivalry and demanded a CBI investigation. The case was handed over to the CBI in September last year. The agency has so far arrested eight accused in the case. Seven of them are presently in judicial custody and one is out on bail. According to reports, CBI in June this year had questioned the then police commissioner of Hubballi-Dharwad Pandurang Rane and two DCPs Mallikarjuna Baladandi and Jinendra Khanagavi in connection with Gowda's murder.

Also in May, the CBI filed a charge sheet before the designated court in Dharwad against the eight accused, who are residents of Dharwad, Ramanagaram, Mandya, Kodagu and Bengaluru.