Six supari killers arrested, murder attempt foiled

Bellary, Apr 16 (UNI) The district police has foiled a conspiracy hatched to eliminate former Municipal President M Kumaraswamy with the arrest of six Supari killers, including two from Andhra Pradesh, here.

Superintendent of Police Pankajkumar Thakur told reporters here today the conspiracy was hatched by three accused lodged in the Central Jail here in connection with the murder of Raghavendra, son of Kumaraswamy, on May 25, 2004.

Apprehending threat to their lives from Kumaraswamy if they came out on bail, the trio--Narayana, Jaggu and Malakanna--had decided to eliminate him with the help of supari killers.

Their plan came to light when they disclosed it to Shakshavali and Bheema after they went to meet them in the prison.

With the help of a bar owner, Diwakar, the trio had hired supari killers--Sudhakar, Veeraswamy and Ramudu from Guntakal, Seena and Chanti from Kurnool, Ramanjini, Krishna, Srinivas, Abdul Razak, Diwakar and Sunkanna from Bellary and struck a deal for Rs three lakh.

After observing Kumaraswamy's routine for a couple of weeks, the supari killers planned to hit his vehicle from the rear when it passed through an underbridge in the city today and shoot him dead from a close range.

However, last night when the gang tried to rob a passing vehicle near Moka road on the outskirts of the city to serve their purpose, the police swooped down on them and arrested Veeraswamy, Sudhakar, Ramanjini, Krishna, Srinivas and Abdul Razak (Basha). They also seized a pistol, three live bullets and knives from them.

Police were on the look out for Diwakar, Chanti, Sunkanna, Ramudu and Seena. Recently, Mr Kumaraswamy escaped attempt on his life.

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