BENGALURU: Former minister and Congress MLA from the Dharwad constituency Vinay Kulkarni and 15 others were sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2016 murder of zilla panchayat member Yogesh Goudar.
Another convict, police inspector Channakeshava B Tingarikar, was sentenced to seven-year imprisonment by the special court on Friday. On Wednesday, the special court for sitting and former MPs and MLAs had convicted 17 accused on charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and other offences.
Convicts taken to Bengaluru Central Prison
However, the court acquitted accused No. 20 Vasudev and accused No. 21 Somashekhar Nyamagoud, giving them the benefit of the doubt. As many as 21 people were named in the case, while accused No. 1
Basavaraj and accused No. 17 Shivanand Shrishaila Biradar had turned approvers. The court had reserved the quantum of punishment to Friday after hearing the arguments and recording statements from the convicts on Thursday, who pleaded for leniency.
All 17 convicts were brought from the Bengaluru Central Prison and produced before special court Judge Santosh Gajanan Bhat on Friday afternoon. He sentenced 16 convicts, including MLA Vinay Kulkarni, to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 16 lakh, to be paid as compensation to the children of the deceased Yogesh Goudar.
The court sentenced accused No. 19, Channakeshav Tingarikar, then inspector of Dharwad Suburban police station, to seven years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 30,000. Tingarikar was sentenced as charges of corruption against him were proven. Accused No. 1 Basavaraj Muttagi was granted the approver status by the court.
After the court pronounced the sentence, the 57-year-old MLA broke down in the courtroom. All the convicts were taken to the Bengaluru Central Prison under tight security.
The case
BJP leader Yogesh Goudar, a Dharwad Zilla Panchayat member, was murdered on June 15, 2016. A group of assailants hacked him to death after throwing chilli powder at his face at a gym in Saptapur, Dharwad. The police filed a chargesheet naming six accused in September 2016. However, in 2019, the then BJP state government handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
After the investigation, the CBI arrested Vinay Kulkarni and filed a chargesheet against 21 persons, including him, in 2020, naming him as Accused No. 15. The CBI stated in its chargesheet that Kulkarni was the conspirator behind the murder, allegedly driven by political rivalry with Yogesh Goudar and that he had hired contract killers to eliminate him.
Other convicts in the case
Vikram Bellary, Kirthi Kumar Basavar Kurahatti, Sandeep Saudatti, Vinayaka Katagi, Mahabaleshwar Hongal alias Muduka, Santhosh Saudatti, Dinesh M., Ashwath, Sunil, Nazeer Ahmed, Shahanawaz, Nuthan, Harshith, Chandrashekar Indi and Vikas Kalburgi.