KARWAR: Haliyal police arrested four people, all from Gangavathi in Koppal district, for kidnapping a Congress worker and exposed the underbelly of local politics.
The police said that the accused — Rakesh (24), Basavaraj (22), Sharanabasu (24) and Ravi Kurubar — had brought the victim, Manohar Swamy, to Uttara Kannada district to prevent him from contesting a town municipal Council election.
Swamy was expected to be a president or vice-president candidate in the election, which is scheduled for next week. His victory was almost certain as some BJP workers too had supported him. After he was kidnapped, Swamy fell unconscious, and the kidnappers panicked.
They tried to get the help of local doctors, who tipped off the police.
“A case of kidnapping has been registered and we have taken the accused into custody. We will hand them over to Gangavathi police,” said Shivanand Chalavadi, DySP, Dandeli.
The police said this could be a tit-for-tat crime as a municipal member, Sudha Somanath, was abducted earlier last week, allegedly by Congress workers.
Gangavathi, with a population of just over one lakh as per the 2011 census, started witnessi a flurry of abductions to eliminate strong contenders after the local election dates were announced. In the 35-member Council, the Congress has 17 members, BJP 14 and JDS two. Two are independents.