Three days after a gangster-turned-BBMP corporator was murdered in the city, another rowdy, also the Bangalore Urban district secretary of Janata Dal (Secular), and his driver were killed at Koona Madivala village near Anekal in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Police said KV Devaraj, 45, of KR Puram, and his driver Manjunath, 36, of Sunavara in Anekal taluk, were done to death following an altercation with another JD(S) worker, Muniraj, around 12.30 am.
Devaraj allegedly stabbed Nagaraj alias HOPCOMS Nagaraj, a neighbour of Muniraj, who had intervened in the fight. Following this incident, a gang attacked the politician and his driver with lethal weapons, before smashing their heads with boulders.
Both the men died on the spot, police said, adding that Nagaraj underwent a surgery at the Sparsha Hospital, where he has been kept under intensive care.
The cause of the altercation was not immediately known.
Devaraj, who had earlier stayed in the village, shifted residence to KR Puram after his alleged involved in the murder of a man, Chikka Devaraj, in 1999. The JD(S) man used to visit the neighbouring village, Naganayakanahalli, where his parents have been staying.
Investigators were suspecting that the politician’s rivals and Chikka Devaraj’s relatives might have killed the duo.
All men in the village have gone missing after the double murder. “We found only women and children in the village. The men are absconding,” HS Venkatesh, circle inspector of Anekal, said.
Police said they would interrogate the injured Nagaraj to find more details. Preliminary investigation revealed that yet another Devaraj and Muniraj shifted the injured man to the hospital.
Another man, Shashi, suspected to be an associate of the murdered politician, too, has been missing, police said.
The district armed reserve police have been deployed in the village to prevent any further untoward incidents.
Devaraj, rowdy-sheeted by the Anekal police, is the second rowdy-turned-politican to be murdered in the past three days. A gang of 10 men had on Sunday killed the BBMP corporator from Banashankari Temple ward, Diwana Ali, in broad daylight. Ali was also a JD(S) man.
