Man who eloped with MLA’s niece hacked to death

BENGALURU: A 32-year-old rowdy-sheeter from Bengaluru was found brutally murdered at Jatti Agrahara village near Koratagere, Tumakuru district on Tuesday morning, two months after he eloped with an 18-year-old niece of a JD(S) MLA in Bengaluru and married her. Tumakuru police said Manu R, a resident of Kamakshipalya, was a driver with Guli Basava alias Basavaraju C, brother of JD(S) MLA K Gopalaiah. Manu also ran a DVD shop. Manu had posted several videos on Facebook over the past week, alleging that his life was under threat from Basavaraju and his son Kiran. Some residents of Koratagere found Manu’s body in a pool of blood around 8am. “He may have been killed at night. It appeared he was attacked with lethal weapons, including machetes, at the spot where the body was found,” a police officer said. Police suspect Manu may have paid the price for marrying Basavaraju’s daughter Pallavi. Police confirmed Manu had eloped with Pallavi on October 22, 2018. Police had registered a case of missing person based on Basavaraju’s complaint on October 25 and found that Manu had gone missing the same day.“We learnt Manu had married Pallavi and we tried to trace him We couldn’t trace them and we still don’t know where Pallavi is staying,” Kamakshipalya police said.Seen with girl in one video In one video, Manu, seen with Pallavi, said police were hunting for him for allegedly kidnapping her. He clarified he hadn’t kidnapped her and Pallavi too claimed she went with Manu of her own volition. Manu alleged police were acting under pressure from Pallavi’s brother Kiran. In another video, Manu said he spoke against police by mistake and they were only doing their job. Tumakuru police formed a special team to nab the killers. Manu is wanted in more than 10 cases in Bengaluru city, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural and Tumakuru districts.