Pramesh S Jain
In a gruesome incident suspected to be linked to a property dispute,six persons were allegedly shot dead and hacked to death at Govindapura village in Chadachan taluk of Vijayapura district on Thursday evening.
According to preliminary information,the attack took place in the Bhima river belt region,where tension reportedly prevailed between the Nirale and Golagi families over a long-standing land dispute.
The assailants allegedly opened fire on the victims before attacking them with machetes,resulting in the death of six persons on the spot.
The deceased have been identified as Chandu Nirale, Dundappa Nirale,Shivaputra Nirale,Rahul Nirale,Samarth Nirale and Shabbir Nadaf,all residents of Govindapura village.
Police sources said the killings were allegedly carried out by members of the Golagi family.However,officials are yet to confirm the motive and sequence of events.
Confirming the incident,Vijayapura Superintendent of Police Laxman Nimbargi said a murder case has been reported within Chadachan police station limits and six persons have been killed.
“Our officers are at the spot and attending to the situation.
During investigation it was revealed that a long-standing land dispute linked to a 2015 murder case is suspected to be the reason behind the brutal killing of six persons at Govindpur village under the limits of Chadachan Police Station in Vijayapura district on Friday afternoon.
The victims were allegedly shot and hacked to death between 2 pm and 2.30 pm while they were at agricultural land located around 20 km north of Chadachan town.Two others sustained injuries in the attack.
The deceased have been identified as Dundappa Nirale (65),Shivaputra Nirale (58),Chandrakant alias Chandu Nirale (55),Rahul Nirale (25),Samarth Nirale (23),all residents of Chadachan,and Shabbir Attar (45).
The injured are Aravind Katage (72) and Sandeep Mane (33), a JCB operator from Maharashtra.
Police said preliminary investigation points to an old rivalry connected to a murder case registered in 2015 at Chadachan police station under Section 302 IPC.In that case, Shivananad,son of Kallanagouda Patil of Govindpur village,was allegedly murdered after he reportedly eloped with a girl belonging to the Ganiga community.
Four persons accused in the case were later convicted by the court.
Following the case,the accused families had reportedly abandoned their agricultural land in Govindpur village and moved elsewhere.
The land had remained uncultivated and unsold for several years.
We suspect fresh tensions erupted after the victims in Friday’s incident recently purchased the disputed land, triggering the deadly attack.
A forensic team and fingerprint experts visited the spot and collected evidence.Senior police officials,including the Additional Superintendent of Police,Indi DySP and Chadachan CPI,are supervising the investigation.
Police have deployed DAR and KSRP personnel in the village to maintain law and order.
The bodies of the deceased and the injured were shifted to BLDE Hospital for postmortem and treatment.
A case is being registered at Chadachan police station and further investigation is underway.Police suspect persons connected to the complainant’s side in the 2015 murder case may be involved in the latest killings he added.
