CID files chargesheet in Bikla Shiva murder case; hunt for Byrathi Basavaraj continues

Bengaluru

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) filed chargesheet in the realtor and rowdy sheeter V.G. Shivaprakash alias Bikla Shiva murder case against 17 accused in a city court on Monday.

However, the CID has not yet filed charges against BJP MLA for K.R. Puram Byrathi Basavaraj (accused 5 in the FIR) as he is absconding, and the CID teams are searching for him in connection with the case. This is only the first chargesheet and more supplementary chargesheets will follow with further investigation into the case, sources said.

The High Court on December 19 quashed the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA), 2000, invoked against him in the case, but rejected anticipatory bail, but asked him to approach the sessions court for the same. Mr. Basavaraj filed an anticipatory bail plea before the sessions court on Saturday, which came up for hearing on Monday. The court adjourned the case for Tuesday, without any interim relief to the petitioner.

Multiple CID teams are searching for Mr. Basavaraj intending to arrest him, given the court has not granted him interim relief. The sources said that the CID was also working towards getting a Look Out Notice issued against the MLA.

Meanwhile, the CID is all set to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court challenging the recent High Court order which quashed invoking the KCOCA, 2000 in the case. “The interpretation of prerequisites to invoke the KCOCA, 2000 in a case in the recent order is an interpretation Karnataka Police cannot agree with. This order will have an impact on the other KCOCA cases as well. So we will have to challenge the order in the Supreme Court. In the Gauri Lankesh case as well, the High Court quashed invoking the KCOCA, 2000, interpreting it differently. We challenged it in the Supreme Court and won the case,” said a senior police officer of the State.