HUBBALLI: A 40-year-old man was brutally hacked to death in broad daylight on a busy road in Banashankari locality of Hubballi on Friday. According to preliminary information, two youths chased the victim and attacked him with a sword and iron rod in the middle of the road before fleeing the scene.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that the victim was chased by the murderers for several hundred metres before he fell down after colliding a two-wheeler coming from the opposite direction.
Once the victim fell on the ground he was attacked. People around them kept shouting but no one could go near the murderers. The entire sequence was captured on several mobiles and videos went viral on social media.
The deceased who has been identified as Dadapeer, a resident of a village near Mishirkoti, was reportedly a prime accused in an earlier murder case. Police suspect that the killing may have been carried out as an act of retaliation by members of a rival group. ACP Shivanand Chalavadi and other police personnel rushed to the spot and conducted a preliminary investigation. Further investigation is underway.
Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar said that the deceased was involved in a murder case which took place 11 years ago. “It is suspected that a relative of the deceased in that case is the murderer. A video has surfaced on social media and based on the video and some other evidence the police are in search of the murderers,” he said.
A relative of Dadapeer said that the victim was jailed briefly after the murder of one Maruti in 2011. The case was closed and Dadapeer was living in his village with his wife and three children. “Both parties had come to a truce but the murder happened. We suspect the hands of the same rival members. We are also waiting for the police to clarify,” the relative added.
According to the family members of the deceased, Dadapeer was saved from a similar attack six months ago when he was travelling from Kalaghatagi to Hubballi. The victim and rivals had an issue over land which ended up in murdering a man named Maruti.