Bengaluru: Former BJP Minister and MLA Byrathi Basavaraj has landed in a controversy, with his name figuring in the police FIR in connection with murder of a 46-year-old rowdy sheeter -- Shivaprakash, allegedly due to land dispute.
Murder had taken place on Tuesday evening, when Shivaprakash went out of the house for a smoke, when 8-9 members hacked him to death with machetes. While his driver Imran, who tried to save Shivaprakash also received serious injuries, Lokesh, his other associate escaped from the scene.
About The Case
The land dispute between Shivaprakash and assailants seems to be old, as Shivaprakash had lodged a complaint with the City Police Commissioner in February, seeking protection. However, the police had not acted on the complaint and the police had not acted upon that complaint. Shivaprakash had also submitted a video clipping, where he was being threatened by Jagadish alias Jagga, who is said to be a close associate of Byrathi Basavaraj.
In his complaint to Commissioner of Police in February, Shivaprakash had said that he was partner of a real estate firm called Extreme Point and in 2024, he had got GPA of a land for development at Kitagnur in Bengaluru East taluk. Since then, MLA Byrathi Basavaraj's henchman Jagadish alias Jagga and nephew Kiran were threatening to kill him, if he did not transfer the GPA to them.Shivaprakash also alleged that Byrathi Basavaraj and his men tried to extort money from him, threatening to falsely implicate him in criminal cases.
The complaint also alleged large scale land grabbing in Bengaluru East taluk, including in Kithaganur village. Stating that the MLA used his influence for the land owners in the regions from getting justice through legal channels, Shivaprakash had sought police protection for himself, his family and business partners.
Since his complaint to the police commissioner, nothing had happened. After Shivaprakash's murder on Tuesday night near his house in Bharatinagar, his mother Vijayalakshmi lodged a complaint with the police, reiterating the same facts. Along with Jagadish and Kiran, she also named Vimal and Anil as assailants. The Bharathinagar police have registered FIR against Jagadish, Kiran, Vimal, Anil and Byrathi Basavaraj.
However, Byrathi Basavaraj was quick to deny the charges. He said that the FIR could be politically motivated, as he was clueless over the entire issue till it came up in the media.
``In the first place, I don't know who this Shivaprakash is and who killed him. If he had lodged a complaint against me with the police commissioner, I should have known about it. But, no one asked me if it was true. I don't have any land in Kithaganur village and I don't know what land he is talking about. Going by the entire episode, I feel that there is some political conspiracy being hatched against me,'' he added.
