Bengaluru: A 36-year-old Gram Panchayat Vice President was brutally hacked to death by armed assailants in Neriga near Attibele on Saturday night. Police said the assailants took the victim, identified as Ashwath, a BJP member, to the city’s outskirts, threw chilli powder on his face and killed him by crushing his head with a boulder on Chikkadasarahalli lake bed.
Police said the murder came to light only on Sunday morning after his body was found by locals. Police suspect that political rivalry could be the reason behind the gruesome murder.
After the news of murder broke out on Sunday there was tension in Chikkadasarahalli village. Family members of the deceased BJP member and villagers staged a flash protest at the crime scene. They even tried to prevent the police from conducting spot inspection and demanded immediate arrest of the accused. Platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police were deployed in the village as a preventive measure.
The family members and villagers accused the rival Congress party members for Ashwath’s death, as he was instrumental in the victory of BJP in district and taluk panchayat elections. Sajapura police later persuaded the family members to allow investigations and shifted the body for post-mortem.
In the statement given to the police, the family members of Ashwath said that he left house on Saturday evening to meet some friends. However, when he did not return and was not answering his calls, they got worried started a search for him.
“We have received some clues in the case and teams are following on the leads. Police have been deployed in the village to prevent any untoward incident,” said a senior police officer.
According to the police Ashwath had contested the recently held elections on a BJP ticket and won. He was later elected as vice-president for Negira Gram Panchayat. He recently got married.
