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Monk case: BJP, seers demand speedy action
Jain monk Kaamakumarnand was taken out from his aashram from Hirekodi in Chikkodi taluk of Karnataka’s Belagavi district on the night of July 6 when he was allegedly murdered by two people who were said to be the devotees of the aashram
Belagavi
The visit of politicians, chiefs of corporation and religious heads after murder of Jain Monk Aacharya Kaamakumar Nandi in Belagavi has said to become a hurdle to the investigation, senior officials said on Tuesday.
“With a day of the crime, we rounded-up the accused and conducted inquiry. However, we have to attend to the ministers, political leaders, heads of board and corporations who are visiting the Aashram, leaving aside our prime work,” said top officials investigating the case. Since the murder of the monk has grabbed the attention of Karnataka and Maharashtra, the higher-level police officers are also attending and following up on the case apart from the Chikkodi crime investigation squad.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwar, Higher Education minister Dr. M C Sudhakar, Religious Minority Commission chairman Abdul Azim, MLC Prakash Hukkeri, MLA Ganesh Hukkeri, former MLCs Mahantesh Kavatagimath and Veerkumar Patil, all the politicians from Chikkodi region, BJP State president Naleen Kumar Kateel and many Jain monks and seers of north Karnataka and South Maharashtra visited the aashram since the incident.
To maintain protocol the higher police officials must be with them and escort them until they leave the venue, which is hampering their investigation. “The accused, in just few minutes of their custody, confessed to the crime. We would have completed all the case filing procedure within hours. However, we couldn’t due to the visits of ministers, elected representatives and others,” said a member from investigation squad on condition of anonymity.
Though both the prime accused were taken into custody last Friday, the next day of the alleged murder of monk Kaamakumarnand, police have officially on record taken them into custody on Tuesday who would be produced before the court on Wednesday. Chikkodi Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Basavaraj Yaligar who is leading the investigating team, told HT that police must produce the accused within 24 hours of taking them into official custody. “We on suspected grounds had rounded-up both the accused on last Friday. We completed first round formal investigation for which their official on record custody would be shown Tuesday whom produced before the court on Wednesday,” he said.
Police who completed the primary investigation of the case are expected to prepare an FIR on Tuesday night which would be produced before Chikkodi court on Wednesday. The accused, according to police are expected to be taken again into their custody when they will produce them before the court.
BJP state president Naleen Kumar Kateel before visiting to Kaamakumar Nandi’s Aashram told news persons in Belagavi on Tuesday that the party would hold statewide protest against killing of the monk. Even after Siddaramaiah led Congress government said that a fair and transparent investigation would be done, BJP has formed a fact-finding committee to investigate the case and submit a report which would be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. “We don’t have faith in the investigation of the state government. Many Hindu organisation leaders were killed during Siddaramaiah’s previous regime which is now repeating,” Kateel said. The committee has visited the aashram with Kateel on Tuesday and gathered the information from the inmates.
Meanwhile, a few Lingayat seers in the joint news conference with Belagavi District Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Belagavi on Tuesday condemned the murder of the monk and said such incidents should not happen with heads of any religion.
VHP district convener Krishna Bhat has suspected the hidden role of ‘Jihaadis’ behind killing of the Jain monk. “We don’t know in what form the Jihaadis work. It’s the responsibility of every Hindu to give protection to the heads of our religion,” he said.
As the police investigation revealed that monk Kaamakumarnand was murdered due to financial reasons, Bhat described it as false saying, “Neither seers nor Jain monks do finance business. They left everything and committed to the spiritual grown of the devotees. How can they engage in worldly matter. What police said is absolutely false.”
Later, the activists of VHP, Bajarang Dal and the mathadishas took a protest march to Belagavi deputy commissioner office from Rani Channamma circle and presented a memorandam to a senior official at the office to Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shaha demanding to probe the killing of monk Kaamakumarnand through CBI.
Jain monk Kaamakumarnand was taken out from his aashram from Hirekodi in Chikkodi taluk of Karnataka’s Belagavi district on the night of July 6 when he was allegedly murdered by two people who were said to be the devotees of the aashram. After murdering the accused they had cut his body i to seven pieces, wrapped in a saree and towel and dumped it into a borewell at Khadakbhavi village in the same taluk. Financial matter is said to be the motive behind killing of the monk.