The ruling BJP seems to be on a collision course with the Bengaluru city police over the murder of Chandru in J.J. Nagar on Monday.
N. Ravikumar, General Secretary, BJP Karnataka, on Saturday alleged that the city police were “covering up” the case and the sequence of events that led to it. “The police may be trying to avoid more work. But it is a fact that Chandru was killed for not being able to speak Urdu, which the Home Minister had stated clearly,” he said, demanding a new FIR and a “fair probe” into the case.
However, Police Commissioner Kamal Pant stuck to the version he had tweeted after the murder. “As per the facts unearthed by our investigation so far, the murder happened during an altercation following an accident,” he said, refusing to further comment on the matter.
In the wee hours of Monday, Chandru and his friend Simon Raj were on their way back from a party when Shahid Pasha’s bike collided with theirs. During an altercation that followed, Chandru was stabbed to death, police have maintained.
However, a section of media and later Home Minister Araga Jnanendra had said Chandru was killed as he could not speak Urdu. BJP leaders C. T. Ravi and N. Ravikumar later visited the survivor Simon Raj’s house and claimed he also said they were targeted by Shahid Pasha and gang for not speaking Urdu, giving it a communal colour.
Police sources said the police had a video recording of Simon Raj’s statement to the police hours after the accident and the murder in J.J. Nagar, where he makes no mention of a tiff over Urdu.
Karnataka State Police had officially put out a fact check on its website saying media reports of Chandru being killed because he did not speak Urdu were wrong. Mr. Jnanendra too had issued a clarification that though initial reports suggested the Urdu angle, it was clear that the murder happened following an accident.
However, notwithstanding his clarification, his party leaders on Saturday alleged police were “covering up” the case and misleading the Home Minister.
