School chairman hacked to death in Bengaluru over property dispute

A six-member gang hacked the principal to death in front of 20 students.

The chairman of a private school in the city was hacked to death on Sunday by a six-member gang over a property dispute, police said.

Ranganath, chairman of Havanur Public School (Handout)

K K Ranganath, 60, chairman of the Havanur Public School in suburban Agrahara Dasarahalli area of Bengaluru, was scheduled to take a special class for class 10 students, when the gang entered his chamber around 10:30 am and hacked him to death, police said. The assailants fled after killing him.

Based on a tip off, police traced one of the accused, Muniraj, near the city’s Mahalaxmi Layout suburb. Police said he attacked two constables with a knife when they tried to arrest him. He was injured after the police opened fire to disable him and was then admitted to a hospital for treatment.

Hemanth Kumar, the police inspector who nabbed Muniraj, said the matter pertained to a property dispute. “Prasad, the prime accused, was involved in a property dispute with the deceased, who had alleged that he had encroached on land belonging to the school,” Kumar said.

A local court had subsequently directed that the illegal structures on the encroached land be demolished. “Prasad was angered by this and felt that the demolition was done at the insistence of the deceased. For this reason, he decided to kill Ranganath,” Kumar said.

“Investigation is currently underway and further details can be provided only after this,” Kumar said.