Published Apr 15, 2026 | 8:01 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 15, 2026 | 8:01 PM
Vinay Kulkarni.
Synopsis: A special court in Karnataka has found Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni guilty of criminal conspiracy and murder in the 2016 killing of BJP leader Yogesh Gowda. Gowda was hacked to death at his gym in Dharwad after he refused to step back from a local election, which led to enmity and a conspiracy against him, a CBI probe found.
A special court for MPs and MLAs in Karnataka on Wednesday, 15 April, found Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni guilty in the 2016 murder of BJP leader Yogesh Gowda.
Gowda, a BJP member and former Dharwad Zila Panchayat member, was hacked to death at his gym in Dharwad in June 2016.
Kulkarni, who represents the Dharwad Assembly constituency, previously served as Minister of State for Mines and Geology in the first Siddaramaiah cabinet. He was charged as the key conspirator in the murder and has been convicted of criminal conspiracy and murder under provisions of the IPC.
Along with him, 18 others have been found guilty, while two others were acquitted by Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Thursday.
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The killing and CBI probe
A few days before the murder, Gowda’s family received an anonymous letter threatening his life. A gang of assailants killed him on 15 June 2016.
The case was initially handled by the local police. It was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2019 when the BJP was in power in the state, after a request from the victim’s family.
Former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had said during election rallies that Kulkarni would be sent to prison as soon as the BJP came to power in the state.
In its supplementary chargesheet, the CBI said Kulkarni was the “main conspirator” in the murder and saw Gowda as a political threat.
The BJP leader had not accepted requests to step back from contesting the Zilla Panchayat election in 2016. This led to personal enmity, and Kulkarni hatched a conspiracy to kill Gowda.
Kulkarni was arrested in November 2020. He spent nine months in jail before securing bail from the Supreme Court.
Although the Congress leader was barred from entering Dharwad district during the 2023 assembly elections, he won the election, defeating sitting BJP MLA Amrut Desai by 18,114 votes.
In June 2025, he was arrested again after the top court cancelled his bail following accusations that he was influencing witnesses.
In January 2026, Kulkarni approached the Karnataka High Court seeking bail. The court said his case stood on a different footing from regular bail cases because the top court had cancelled his bail for tampering with witnesses, and told him to approach the Supreme Court again for relief.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
