MANGALURU:The three accused in the sensational Karthik Raj murder case were acquitted by the Principal District and Sessions court on Monday.An engineering graduate Karthik Raj (26) was found in a pool of blood on the road near Konaje police station on the morning of October 22, 2016.
Karthik Raj who was shifted to a private hospital by cops attached to Konaje police station succumbed on the following day.When the police failed to arrest the accused, the case took a political twist with BJP MP Nalin Kumar Kateel participating in a couple of agitations and even threatening to set Konaje police station on fire. A case was also registered against BJP MP Kateel in Konaje police station.
After four months when the case made no headway, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Valentine D’Souza was entrusted with the case. Soon D’Souza arrested Karthik Raj’s sister Kavyashree, one Gautham Kayya and his brother Gaurav Kayya. Valentine D’Souza filed a chargesheet in Principal district and sessions court accusing Kavyashree of plotting the murder of her own brother Karthik Raj who had resented her illicit relationship with Gautham Kayya. The Congress seized the opportunity to criticise BJP for having given the case a political twist. Principal District and Sessions Judge K S Bilagi on Monday upheld the arguments of advocates and acquitted all the three accused of the murder.