B’luru Journo Held for Hiring Contract Killers to Murder Colleague
Ravi Belagere wanted his chief crime reporter dead, say police.
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Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) police have arrested Ravi Belagere, a senior journalist and editor of Hi Bangalore tabloid, for allegedly giving supari (hiring contract killers) to kill one of his fellow journalists, Sunil Heggaravalli.
The contract killing conspiracy came to light, when the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case picked up a gunrunner Tahir Husain. Although no information about Gauri Lankesh murder case came out of the investigation, he spilled beans on other gunrunners and contract killers in the state.
When the Central Crime Branch took over the case, during the interrogation, Tahir told cops that he had sold a pistol and five live rounds to a contract killer, Shashidhar Ramachandra Mundewadi. Following up on this lead, on 7 December, around 11.15pm, police arrested Shashidhar. During the interrogation, he confessed to having taken up a contract to murder Sunil Heggaravalli.
The Motive and Murder Plan
According to police, Ravi and Sunil were close associates for several years. However, Ravi suspected that Sunil was having an extramarital affair with his second wife. Once he was convinced of the affair, he devised a plan to murder Sunil and contacted Shashidhar, a contract killer he knew for several years.
On Ravi’s request, on 28 August, Shashidhar and his associate Viju Badiger came to Ravi’s Bengaluru residence. During this meeting, Ravi allegedly handed over a pistol, four bullets and a knife to the duo.
Bengaluru police commissioner T Suneel Kumar said that Rs 15,000 was paid to Shashidhar as advance. “From preliminary interrogation, we have learnt that Ravi has assured the killers that any amount they demand would be paid, as long as the job is finished,” said Kumar.
After the weapons and the money was handed over, one of Ravi’s employees took the killers to the Sunil’s house in Uttarahalli and showed them the target as well.
The Failed Attempt and Police Raid
Police said that the plan was to eliminate Sunil on the same night (28 August). However, they couldn’t get Sunil to come outside his house and the plan was called off. The attackers then returned the pistol to Ravi and assured him that job will be finished within a month.
After Shashidhar provided all these details during the interrogation, CCB raided Ravi’s house on 7 December and during the raid they found one pistol, 53 pistol bullets, one empty pistol cartridge, one double barrel gun and 41 rounds of shotgun rounds. During the raid, police recovered a deer skin with a bullet hole, as well.
According to police records, Shashidhar is involved in the three murders in 2006, 2013 and 2014. In 2017, he was arrested under arms act for gunrunning. After spending one and half months in jail, he came out on bail and took up the contract to kill Sunil.
Shocked to know I Was Target: Sunil
“I am shocked to hear that there was a contract made to kill me. Few people were roaming around my house, but I didn’t pay attention. I will be cooperating with the police in the investigation,” Sunil told a TV channel.
“Two years ago, Ravi Belagere and I had some differences and I quit Hi Bangalore. When Gauri Lankesh was killed he contacted me and in fact asked me to head the tabloid’s editorial. I assumed that he was trying to patch up. We have been friends for 14 years and I never knew that a trusted friend like him would do something like this,” he added.
No Links to Gauri Lankesh Murder
Meanwhile, Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case said that the arrest of the journalist and two gunrunners were not related to the Gauri Lankesh murder.
Ravi Belagere is among the two journalists, who were ordered to be arrested by the Karnataka assembly speaker, using privilege motion, for writing derogatory articles against the assembly.
Police said that Ravi Belagere will be produced taken to magistrate’s house and police custody will be sorted for further interrogation.
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