Scribe questioned over Karnataka murder case

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) police, who have intensified the questioning of journalist and editor of Kannada weekly tabloid Hai Bangalore, are now focusing on building the case strong and are on the hunt to Viju Badager, the associate of sharpshooter Shashidhara Ramach-andra Mundewadi, who accompanied him to Sunil Heggaravalli’s house to gun him down.

A senior CCB official said that though there the case has not progressed much, they were trying to get clinching evidences against those involved in the case. “We have to get some more witnesses and suspects. Most importantly, we need to question Viju Badager as part of the probe. We should get him first and teams are in North Karnataka in search of him. Also, we are yet to question Sunil Heggaravalli and his statement holds the key to the investigation.”

On Saturday, Ravi Belagere was questioned by several senior officers, including the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime). But Belagere is said to be not cooperating with the interrogators and is stonewalling them with the stock reply that he has no connection with the case. Faced with the challenge, the police are collecting circumstantial, material and technical evidence to build a watertight case against him. It is learnt that the police have concrete evidence about the phone call details that expose the nexus between Belagere and Shashidhara.