Image showing a dead body. For representational purposes.
Credit: iStock Photo
Hubballi: Hubballi city was jolted awake on Saturday morning to the sound of gunfire, as police fired two murder accused attempting to flee after the heinous murder of a man. This marks the eighth such shooting incident in the city within a mere three months.
The victim Shivraj Kammar (23) from Gopankoppa was viciously attacked by a group of six to seven assailants at Gopankoppa Junction on Friday night. Police suspect a longstanding feud and financial issues as the motive of the murder.
Describing the murder as an 'overkill', Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar said the victim suffered more than 30 injuries on the body.
In this connection, Ashok Nagar police detained three persons. The two accused told the police the whereabouts of the other murder accused. When the police took accused Kiran Jattanappanvar and Sudeep Rayapur to MTS Colony near Old Hubballi Police Station to nab the others, the duo 'attacked' the police and tried to flee. The police fired two rounds in the air and then three bullets in the legs of the accused, according to the police.
Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar said that to protect the police from the attack and to take murder accused into custody, PSIs Satannavar and Manjunath fired in the legs of the accused. In the incident, both PSI, staff Parashuram and Shambhu sustained injuries. The injured policemen and the accused have been shifted to KMC-RI Hospital. All are out of danger and recovering, he informed.
'Planned attack'
A group of six to seven members had brought machetes, knives and other lethal weapons to attack Shivraj. They attacked him brutally before killing him on the spot. Police have intensified the search for other accused. All accused, who are involved in the crime directly or indirectly will be arrested, said Shashi Kumar.
The police have been gathering information to establish the motive behind the murder. Initial reports suggest that old enmity and financial issues led to the murder, he added.