Ram Temple construction dates to be announced this year: Sakshi

Hubballi, May 17: Karnataka Police have arrested the killer, Vishwa, also known as Girish, in the sensational Anjali Ambigera murder case, police said on Friday.

Preliminary investigations reveal that Vishwa was a habitual thief who exploited innocent young women. The accused is also a drunkard and was caught while attempting to commit theft. He was also part of a gang which stole bikes.

The accused targeted gullible young women, enacting a drama of love and playing the emotional card to forcefully extort gold, silver, and cash from them. When Anjali did not agree to any of his attempts to rob her and outrightly rejected his offer to go with him to Mysuru city, he brutally killed her.

The police had formed two teams to hunt down the killer. One of the teams was searching in the south Karnataka region, and another team, which launched a hunt in Davanagere, nabbed him. The accused was arrested by the police on Thursday.

The police could not catch him sooner as the killer did not carry a mobile phone and did not use his phone for 15 days, before murdering Anjali. The jurisdictional Bendigeri Police were aware of the killer's history, but even after the complaint by the girl’s family, they showed "utter negligence".

The 24-year-old Vishwa entered Anjali Ambigera's (20) residence at 5.30 A.M. on Wednesday and stabbed the young woman multiple times before she could react. Vishwa dragged Anjali Ambigera all over the house, kicking and stabbing her. Later, he pushed her into the kitchen where he stabbed her repeatedly.

Despite efforts by Anjali’s grandmother and two sisters to stop the attacker, he killed her and managed to flee. The incident occurred in the Veerapura Oni area within the jurisdiction of the Bendigeri Police Station.

Vishwa had been blackmailing Anjali and pressurising her to accompany him to Mysuru without informing her parents. The incident which took place close on the heels of MCA student Neha Hiremath’s brutal murder by the jilted lover has raised concern over the safety of women all across the state.

The BJP had demanded the resignation of Home Minister G. Parameshwara while the Congress leaders have also demanded that the Hubballi-Dharwad Police Commissioner Renuka Sukumar should be transferred for failing to sensitise the police force regarding issues of women’s safety.

Mangaluru: Disgruntled BJP leader and former MLA K Raghupathi Bhat, who is contesting the legislative council election as an independent candidate from the South West Graduates constituency, said the BJP has adopted the “godfather culture” of the Congress.

Bhat told reporters here on Saturday, that he has not tried to appease any senior BJP leaders to get a party ticket to contest the MLC poll.

“I am contesting and seeking votes based on my achievements. My contesting may have a negative impact on the BJP. However, I want to go back to the BJP after winning this election,” Bhat said, and refused to answer the actual reason for the denial of a BJP ticket to him.

“I have no idea who played from behind that I was denied a ticket for the MLC poll.

Earlier, the BJP had a culture of selecting candidates for MLA and MLC polls by seeking the opinion of party workers at the booth level, followed by discussions at mandal and district levels.

Now the situation is such that even if one person’s name was sent from the state, the final list will be different. The godfather culture of the Congress has stretched into our party too. Only those who appease leaders get a ticket in the BJP. However, I have not appeased any leader. I believe in the support of party workers, and with this confidence I am contesting the election,” Bhat said.

To a query, Bhat said that he has not contacted by BJP leaders after deciding to contest the MLC poll.

“I have already requested all leaders that I should get the party’s Form B to contest the MLC poll from the South West Graduates constituency. I have told them that I am also contesting as an independent candidate on behalf of the BJP. The ultimate aim of my contesting the election is that senior leaders should know the injustice that honest party workers are facing in the BJP,” he said.

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, urging him to extend all possible help to the victims of JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna's alleged sexual abuse.

In a letter to Siddaramaiah, Gandhi condemned the actions of Revanna, an MP from Hassan in Karnataka, and accused him of enjoying immunity with the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

In a veiled attack on Modi, the Congress leader said he has never come across a senior public representative who has constantly chosen silence in the face of untold violence against women.

"I request you to kindly extend all possible support to the victims," Gandhi said in his letter to the Karnataka chief minister.

"They deserve our compassion and solidarity as they fight their battle for justice. We have a collective duty to ensure that all parties responsible for these heinous crimes are brought to book," he added.

Describing the incidents as "horrific sexual violence" unleashed by the incumbent Member of Parliament, Gandhi alleged that Revanna sexually assaulted and filmed hundreds of women over several years.

"Many who looked up to him as a brother and son were brutalised in the most violent manner and robbed of their dignity. The rape of our mothers and sisters warrants the strictest possible punishment."

"I am deeply shocked to learn that as far back as December 2023, our Home Minister Shri Amit Shah was informed by Shri G Devaraje Gowda about Prajwal Revanna's antecedents, especially his history of sexual violence and the presence of videos filmed by the perpetrator," the former Congress chief said.

He said what is even more shocking is that despite these gruesome allegations being brought to the notice of the seniormost leadership of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre, Modi campaigned and canvassed for a "mass rapist".

"Furthermore, the Union government wilfully allowed him to flee India to derail any meaningful investigation. The deeply perverse nature of these crimes and the absolute immunity enjoyed by Prajwal Revanna with the blessings of the Prime Minister and Home Minister deserves the strongest condemnation," Gandhi said.

"In my two decades in public life, I have never come across a senior public representative who has constantly chosen silence in the face of untold violence against women. From our wrestlers in Haryana to our sisters in Manipur, Indian women are bearing the brunt of the Prime Minister's tacit support for such criminals," he alleged.

In this backdrop, Gandhi said the Congress has a moral duty to fight for justice for "our mothers and sisters".

"I understand that the Karnataka government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the grave allegations, and a request has been made to the Prime Minister to cancel Prajwal Revanna's diplomatic passport and get him extradited to India at the earliest," he said.

H D Revanna, the Janata Dal (Secular) MLA from Holenarasipura in Karnataka's Hassan district, is the son of former prime minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda and elder brother of former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. He is facing allegations of sexually abusing women.