Published Jan 08, 2023 | 6:19 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 08, 2023 | 6:20 PM
Police security has been tightened in the premises of KLE's Hospital in Belagavi on Sunday.
A financial dispute has led to the attack on Sri Ram Sena Belagavi president Ravikumar Kokitkar and his driver Manoj Desurkar late evening on Saturday, 7 January, near Hindalga village in the Belagavi district of Karnataka.
In the attack, Ravikumar and his driver suffered severe injuries as the miscreants opened fire while the duo were travelling towards Hindalga, which is on the outskirts of Belagavi city.
According to police reports, the bike-borne men were following Ravikumar’s car.
When the car slowed down near a speed breaker, three persons on the two-wheeler came near the vehicle and one of them opened fire on Kokitkar.
“A bullet brushed the chin of Kokitkar and the hands of Desurkar. Both sustained injuries and were rushed to a private hospital for medical care. The duo are out of danger,” said the police.
The firing incident sent shockwaves across the city. The on-duty police personnel, including City Police Commissioner MB Boralingaiah, rushed to the incident spot and took stock of the situation.
The Belagavi Rural Police were also investigating the case.
While announcing that the police had launched an investigation, the commissioner said they would catch the assailants and punish them.
A total of four different teams were formed to investigate this firing incident.
The cops arrested all three accused connected to the firing case by Sunday morning.
The accused were identified as Abhijeet Bhatkande (41), Rahul Kodachawad (32) and Joytiba Muthagekar (25), all residents of the Belagavi district.
Boralingaiah told South First: “Ravikumar and his driver were attacked over the financial and real-estate disputes. The motive behind the crime is a personal rivalry.”
He added: “This case has been cracked within 18 hours. The injured Kokitkar carried out a similar attack on the main accused Abhijeet in 2020. There were frequent fights between the two factions over financial and property issues.”
The commissioner also drew the curtains on rumours when he said: “There is no political or communal motive behind the attack.”
Asked whether the police had recovered any CCTV footage connected to the incident, Boralingaiah said: “We are collecting CCTV footage on the incident. The investigative team is also looking at whether the accused are affiliated to any outfits.”
He told South First: “The people should not heed rumours. The investigation is underway in all possible angles.”
Sri Ram Sena head Pramod Muthalik in Belagavi on Sunday condemned the attack and stated that the outfit’s workers stand for Hindutva and would not be intimidated by such attacks.
He claimed that this was a targeted attack on the workers of the Hindutva outfit.
“The police should serve justice to the injured in this incident. CCTV footage will be available as the incident occurred near the Hindalga prison. The police should find the actual motive behind the firing incident,” said Muthalik.
“If anyone makes an attempt to prevent the Sri Ram Sena from continuing its Hindutva work, the same fate will befall them,” he cautioned.
Muthalik also enquired about the health condition of the injured Ravi Kokitkar and his driver Manoj.
