My father is not guilty: Daughter of arrested tabloid editor
Bengaluru: The daughter of a Ravi Belagere, a leading Kannada tabloid editor who was arrested for allegedly hiring a contract killer to eliminate his journalist colleague, today said that her father was “not guilty” and would come out of the case “safely”.
Belagere, who brings out ‘Hai Bangalore’, was arrested yesterday from his house here on charges of hiring a ‘supari’ killer from Vijayapura in north Karnataka to kill Sunil Heggaravalli.
“No one has filed an FIR in this case based on a complaint filed by someone. It is a suo-motu case by the police based on Shahi’s (the contract killer) statement. There is no meaning in it,” Bhavana claimed.
“I’m very confident, he (Belagere) is not guilty. He has not done anything and will be out of it safely very soon,” she told reporters in Dharwad.
Bhavana said that she has been advised by lawyers not to issue statements on the case and that the evidence, the police have is just a statement and the case cannot stand based on it.
“My dad is a great man, he is a fighter, he will come out fighting,” she added.
Belagere was produced before a magistrate at his residence last night and was remanded in four days police custody.
The police stumbled on the alleged plot when the contract killer, Shashidhar Mundewadi, was being questioned in connection with the probe into the killing of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead at her house by unidentified assailants here on September 5.
Official sources said that the City Crime Branch was questioning Belagere.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, commenting on the case, said that the police would do their work according to the law. “I don’t know. Police might have evidence, they will work according to the law,” he said.
Yesterday, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Satish Kumar claimed that Mundewadi had stated during interrogation that Belagere gave him ‘supari’ to kill Heggaravalli Based on the inputs, Belagare was arrested and a pistol and a double barrel gun was seized from him, he had said.
Kumar also said that Belagere wanted to kill Heggaravalli for “personal reasons” and that an FIR was registered at the Subrahmanyapura police station.
Belagere was in news after the Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed a resolution sentencing him and Anil Raju, editor of tabloid ‘Yelahanka Voice’, to one year in jail.
Fines of Rs 10,000 each was also imposed on them for their alleged defamatory articles against state legislators.
The assembly had recently rejected a plea by both the journalists to reconsider its decision.
On a petition by the journalists, the Karnataka High Court had earlier this week directed the assembly not to pursue the proceedings until further orders.
If this rat in police custody had said Siddaramaiah ordered a supari to eliminate Gauri, would the police have arrested Siddaramaiah? The statements from police interrogation have zero legal value. On this basis almost anybody can be arrested on trumped up charges just by colluding with the police and a rat such as this. The problem is our police department and the lower courts are clueless when it comes law and the constitution. Maybe the High Court will kick the sh*t out of the police for this, failing which Supreme Court definitely will. We are in the jungle raj. People… Read more »
Arresting a person based on a statement made by someone who is in police custody is not very reliable. What if the guy had pointed to Siddaramayya or some other politician? Would they have arrested the person? For some reason, the state govt seems to be determined to throw Mr.Belegare behind bars. Well, let’s see what happens next..