The city police have arrested one more person in connection with the attempt to murder case of realtor and educationist P Dayananda Pai.
The accused, Mallikarjun, 30, is a native of Hubli. Police had earlier arrested three men in this connection, and with Mallikarjun’s arrest, the total number of arrests have gone upto four. Police have recovered two 9 mm pistols and 30 rounds of live cartridges from Mallikarjun, officials said.
The other three accused are Mallikarjun’s elder brother Subhash Bheemappa Hubballi alias Subhash Shikhar, 36, Vignesh alias Poya, 21, of Vinayaka Layout near Nayandahalli and Santosh, 25, of Sampangiramaiah Extension in Hessaraghatta, who was a broadcast engineer with a Kannada news channel. All are associates of notorious rowdy Hebbet Manja. Police said they first nabbed Vignesh based on the clues they got from the CCTV footage of commercial establishments near the spot. Ten live bullets of 7.65 calibre were recovered from him.
“Based on the details he revealed during interrogation, Subhash Shikhar was arrested. The two confessed of following Dayananda Pai’s Bentley car from Sahakarnagar on two bikes and opening fire at him near Ramakrishna Ashram Circle. They had done the job at the behest of Hebbet Manja,” the police explained.
Santosh was arrested after Shikhar informed that it was the former who provided them logistic support for the operations. Later, Mallikarjun was arrested, and he was found in possession of two pistols that were used in the attack, the police added. The police are on the lookout of other accused in the case.