Body found, police verifying resemblance with Kalburgi's killers

Belagavi (Ktk), Oct 28: An unidentified body with two bullet injuries has been found at a village in Belagavi district and police were verifying if it resembled the sketch of one of the two killers of writer MM Kalburgi, who was gunned down at Dharwad in August.

The body was recovered at Manikwadi between Khanapur and Honde in Belgavi district recently and the assailant who killed the man was not known, Additional Superintendent of Police RK Gadadee told PTI.

Asked if the body bore semblance to one of the sketches of Kalburgi's killers, he said investigation was "in progress" and nothing could be said at the moment.

Police had released in the first week of September the sketches prepared on the basis of the accounts given by the deceased scholar's wife, Umadevi, and another person who had a glimpse of the killers.

The state CID is probing the killing, which has led to national outrage with several writers returning their Sahitya Akademi awards over "rising intolerance", citing the murder of Kalburgi as one of the reasons for their action.

Maharashtra police have exchanged data and sketches of suspected murderers of anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar and veteran Communist leader Govind Pansare at Kolhapur in that state.

Karnataka police had also visited Maharashtra to collect vital clues, if any. Police of both Maharashtra and Karnataka are trying to ascertain if there is any link between Kalburgi's murder and the killings of Dabholkar and Pansare.

PTI