MYSURU/ MANDYA: A Janata Dal (Secular) leader was allegedly stabbed to death in broad daylight at Maddur town in Mandya district on Monday. The death of Honnalagere Prakash at TB Circle triggered tension in the area, with scores of his followers staging a flash protest. Traffic on the busy Mysuru-Bengaluru highway came to a halt and vehicles were lined up for about two km.
Prakash (48), a native of Thoppanahalli, is said to have been close to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and had played an active role in the recent elections, where the party put up a good show. Prakash’s wife Lalitha had served as the president of Mandya Zilla Panchayat earlier.
According to preliminary information, eyewitnesses said Prakash had boarded his multi-utility vehicle after attending a meeting of party workers in Maddur at 4.30pm when he was stopped by one or two youth.
They wanted to have a word with Prakash and the latter gestured to them to board the vehicle. Prakash, who was occupying the rear seat, had almost started a conversation with them, when he was allegedly attacked with a knife, and sustained injuries on his throat, as well as his right shoulder and other parts of the body. A profusely bleeding Prakash was rushed to the general hospital at Maddur, where the doctors declared him brought dead.
Another version, however, says that Prakash, who was seated inside the car, was attacked by assailants who came on a two-wheeler, and stopped next to his vehicle.The pillion rider pulled out a knife and launched the attack, before speeding away from the spot.After learning about the incident, Prakash’s supporters rushed to the hospital, and broke windowpanes of the emergency room where his body was placed on a stretcher. They were later controlled by the police.Newly-elected Mandya MP L R Shivarame Gowda, who was driving towards Mysuru, took a detour and joined the protesters who were staging a sit-in in the middle of the highway at Maddur.
Unsuspecting commuters were forced to stop their vehicles, and traffic came to a halt for a distance of about two km from Gejjagalli to Shivapura. The police then diverted the vehicles on another route.
Prakash’s killing is said to have been caused perhaps by the simmering differences between JD(S) and Congress workers over a double murder that took place two years ago. Two persons — Nandish (25) and Muthuraj alias Kote (45) — were killed at Thoppanahalli on December 25, 2016. A day before they were killed, both the party workers had clashed with each other over tearing of a flex board erected at the village.
Following a complaint lodged by Prakash, police had arrested two persons. The high court had also turned down their bail plea in a recent hearing. It is suspected that the rejection of the bail plea may have prompted Prakash’s rivals to kill him. A case has been registered by the Maddur police.