Murder victim's kin plan dharna for speedy probe

GULBARGA: The Guttedars will stage a dharna in front of the Gulbarga Deputy Commissioner''s office here on October 25 to protest the `inordinate delay'' in investigating the murder of Ashok Guttedar, half-brother of Aland MLA Subhash Guttedar.
In a letter to Home Minister Mallikarjun M. Kharge, Rukmayya Guttedar, father of the deceased who will lead the family in the dharna, has said Ashok Guttedar was murdered on June 15 in Bangalore but the police have made no tangible progress so far.
In the statement given to the Bangalore police, Ashok''s wife had hinted at the involvement of former minister and Afzalpur MLA Malikayya Guttedar and Subhash Guttedar.Ashok and Subhash are half-brothers and sons of Rukmayya Guttedar.
In the letter, Rukmayya has recalled his meetings with the home minister in July along with Dattaraj Guttedar, his elder son. He said he had submitted a written complaint, expressing suspicion about the involvement of Malikayya Guttedar, Subhash Guttedar, Subhash Guttedar''s son Santosh Guttedar and Satish Guttedar (brother of Subhash). He had made a request that all these people be interrogated, but it had not been done.
Alleging that ``highly influential politicians'''' of the ruling Congress were sabotaging the investigation, he has stated he has ``lost all hopes'''' and has resorted to the dharna in quest of justice.
At the October 25 dharna, Rukmayya will be joined in by his elder son Dattaraj, the wife of deceased Ashok Guttedar and his grandchildren.
B.R. Patil, former deputy chairman of the Legislative Council, Maruti Manpade, state secretariat member of CPM, Dalit leaders Vithal Dodmani and Vithal Herur, CPI''s Moula Mulla and BSP''s Basanna Singhe have expressed support to the Guttedars'' dharna.
They are contemplating a demonstration either in the last week of October or in the first week of November against ``criminalisation of politics'''' and increase in supari murders in Gulbarga district in the last few months.
They said investigations into the murder of former Afzalpur Taluk Panchayat member Eeramma Yankanjee be handed over to the CoD to ascertain whether it was a case of supari. Eeramma, it is said, has in her dying declaration given the names of Mahadev Guttedar, Shivayya Guttedar (uncle of Malikayya Guttedar) and Satish Guttedar (brother of Malikayya Guttedar), which have been later included in the first information report.
They wanted the Gulbarga Superintendent of Police Alok Kumar to be suspended to facilitate ``impartial'''' inquiry.