The former councillor of Hegganahalli and his wife have been arrested on the charge of paying a supari to a gang to murder their political opponent, who was a member of the BJP. They are among the nine persons charged with murder of Chikkathamme Gowda at Kamakshipalya on November 8.
Govinde Gowda, of Janata Dal (Secular), and his wife Varamahalakshmi allegedly nurtured a grudge against Chikkathamme Gowda, who quit JD (S) and joined BJP last year. The couple believed his departure from JD(S) led to the defeat of Varamahalakshmi in the 2015 BBMP elections.
The police said that adding to the trouble was Chikkathamme Gowda befriending their son Suresh Kumar, who started distancing himself from the couple. “The couple feared a loss of support in their constituency and plotted the murder,” said Anucheth, DCP (West).
Varamahalakshmi allegedly contacted Manikantha, a habitual offender, and offered him Rs. 30 lakh to murder Chikkathamme Gowda. “She paid an advance of Rs. 15 lakh. She wanted the gang to eliminate Chikkathamme Gowda before he conducted his house-warming ceremony. She suspected that he had constructed the house with money he got in the elections,” he said. The gang confronted Chikkathamme Gowda on November 8 when he was heading home at night, along with his friend Naganna. While Naganna escaped, they hacked Chikkathamme Gowda to death.
Meanwhile, Govinde Gowda got admitted to a hospital feigning chest pain. After Chikkathamme Gowda was cremated, he got discharged and went on a pilgrimage to Kerala.
During the investigation, the police found that Govinde Gowda was in touch with a group of people before and after the murder. The police arrested the men —Manikantha, Harish, Suresh, Yogesh, Mathew, Sananulla and Yuvaraj. They recovered the motorcycles and lethal weapons allegedly used to commit the offence.
‘No one willing to take supari’
The couple, through Harish, had approached many anti-social elements to execute their plan, but had been turned down on learning the political affiliation of the target, the investigation revealed.
Manikanta agreed to carry out the murder as he was in dire need of money.
During the probe, a police team stumbled upon the political rivalry between Varamahalakshmi and Chikkathamme Gowda, which was a crucial lead in cracking the case, sources said.
