Soon after real estate operative V G Shivaprakash alias Bikla Shiva was murdered in Bengaluru on July 15, BJP MLA Byrathi Basavaraj, an accused in the case, received a phone call from the main accused, Jagadish P alias Jaga, a criminal history sheeter. The two then allegedly held a meeting before Jaga fled the country, according to call and cell phone location data obtained by the Karnataka CID police.
The CID’s findings in the Bikla Shiva murder case are part of a chargesheet filed on December 22 and were placed in a special court on Tuesday by a special public prosecutor during arguments in an anticipatory bail plea by Basavaraj, the MLA from the K R Puram region in Bengaluru.
The special court rejected Basavaraj’s anticipatory bail plea by referring to some of the findings presented by the CID police, including those of an ongoing rivalry between the MLA and Shiva. The court ruled that the allegations against Basavaraj are prima facie serious in nature.
Basavaraj, who received a reprieve from the Karnataka High Court on December 19 in the form of quashing of charges of involvement in an organised crime under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act, 2000, has evaded the CID police over the last week while attempting to obtain anticipatory bail for the murder charges, which remain.
‘Serious allegations being levelled’
Shiva was murdered outside his house on a busy street in east Bengaluru by a gang of hired assailants, allegedly operating on behalf of Basavaraj’s associates, including Jaga. While Jaga is the main accused in the case, Basavaraj is accused number five.
The special court for elected representatives has referred to the call data records and cell tower information from the day of the murder, which has been produced by the CID police following the investigations.
“That apart, it is relevant to note that as per the CDR (Call Detail Record), immediately after the incident the accused No.1 Jagadish @ Jaga had called upon the petitioner and the tower location indicates they both remained in the same place and after that the accused No.1 fled from the country and was later on deported to India from Sri Lanka,” the special court said.
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“All the aforesaid aspects would certainly indicate serious allegations being levelled against the petitioner herein,” the special court added, rejecting Basavaraj’s plea. The court also referred to the observations made by the Karnataka High Court on December 19 while withdrawing an interim protection against arrest given by the high court on August 12 to the MLA that “custodial interrogation is a legal option available to the investigating agency and there is no reason to deny such exercise of power”.
The CID’s case
The special court was informed by the CID prosecutor that the conspiracy for the Bikla Shiva murder was hatched by Basavaraj, Jaga, and a close associate, Ajeeth, during a visit to Prayagraj for the Kumbh Mela in February. The development came after a land dispute between Shiva and an MLA’s aide over a property in Kithaganur in east Bengaluru escalated at the time.
The CID has reported that Basavaraj travelled with the two co-accused in the Bikla Shiva murder case on the same flights to Prayagraj. The trio travelled on the same PNR number for one of the flights, which was allegedly booked by a close aide of the MLA involved in a property dispute with the murder victim, as per the CID.
The CID told the special court this week that Basavaraj provided protection to the real estate operations carried out in his constituency by his associates, like Jaga, K Kiran, Vimal Raj, Madan and Ajeeth, who all have criminal backgrounds.
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“It is submitted that accused No.1 Jagadish @ Jaga and accused No.20 Ajeeth were in contact with accused No.5 and accused No.5 was supporting the real estate business of accused No.1 and accused No.20,” the special court noted.
“It is relevant to note that prior to commission of the aforesaid offence certain rivalry was persisting between deceased Shivaprakash and the present petitioner (MLA),” the court said.
The court also noted that the victim had reported to the police a threat to his life from the MLA and his associates prior to the murder, following the dispute over the Kithaganur property.